Levin Announces Completion of Rooftop Solar Project at Capitol Plaza

On Oct 27, 2016

North Plainfield-based commercial real estate services firm Levin Management Corporation (LMC) has announced the completion of a rooftop solar panel installation project at 1001 Spruce Office Center, the office component of Capitol Plaza in Ewing. LMC serves as exclusive managing and leasing agent for the 360,000-square-foot Mercer County shopping center.

The new rooftop solar panels at 1001 Spruce Office Center are designed to increase efficiency and reduce annual utility costs by supplementing the building’s electric power with a clean, alternative energy source, according to Robert Carson, LMC’s executive vice president. Along with its environmental benefits, the project generates SRECs (solar renewable energy credits) – financial incentives based on the amount of electricity a solar energy system produces. In New Jersey, an SREC is issued once a solar facility has generated 1,000 kWh (1MWh) through metered production. SRECs then can be sold on the SREC market, providing the system owner a reliable source of revenue to help offset the cost of installation.

“In the few short months since this project has been up and running, the results have exceeded our expectations,” Carson said. “Along with the tremendous environmental benefits, we are now starting to monetize our investment by selling SRECs produced by the system’s electrical output. It’s a great example of why this project made financial sense in addition to being environmentally responsible, and is a positive investment in the shopping center’s future. Based on this experience at Capitol Plaza, we are exploring additional solar opportunities throughout our portfolio.”

Vanguard Energy Partners of Branchburg – a national solar construction firm – designed, installed and is operating the Capitol Plaza system. The system is comprised of 1,066 solar panels, each of which produces 325 watts of power, controlled by SolarEdge Optimizers and Inverters. “Simply put, it’s tantamount to having a giant lightbulb on the roof that will generate an estimated 420,000 kilowatt hours of solar electricity in the first year alone,” according to Alex Rivera, Vanguard’s senior vice president of project development and originations.

“This energy savings is the equivalent, on a yearly basis, to removing 62 passenger vehicles from the road, eliminating the consumption of more than 33,000 gallons of gasoline, removing 315,000 pounds of burned coal from the atmosphere and eradicating 31 homes’ energy consumption,” Rivera added.

Located on the heavily traveled North Olden Avenue at the junction of Route 206 (Princeton Avenue), Capitol Plaza houses a diverse mix of national and regional tenants includes dd’s Discounts, Forman Mills, Marshalls, Save-A-Lot supermarket, American Furniture, Planet Fitness, Harbor Freight Tools, Ashley Stewart, GNC, the U.S. Armed Forces Career Center, Foot Locker and Kicks USA, along with numerous service and restaurant tenants. Its 1001 Spruce Office Center also is home to the newly expanded, 30,500-square-foot Jersey College.

The solar project demonstrates LMC’s commitment to corporate sustainability and reducing energy consumption throughout its portfolio. For more than six decades, the firm has been a trusted single-source commercial real estate services provider for institutional and private owners. Today LMC maintains a diversified portfolio of approximately 95 properties totaling 13 million square feet in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, offering leasing, property management, accounting, construction management and marketing.

The company specializes in repositioning, retenanting and renovating real estate – areas that have become particularly vital in an increasingly competitive market. LMC’s services continue to evolve with new technologies, efficiencies and sustainability-focused initiatives to serve a new generation of properties, investors and tenants.

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