194 Wood Ave. South in Iselin — File photo/Courtesy: Cushman & Wakefield
By Joshua Burd
Wells Fargo has signed a new lease for more than 130,000 square feet at a renovated office building in the Iselin section of Woodbridge.
According to market reports, the banking giant is leasing the space at 194 Wood Ave. under a deal with Opal Holdings, which purchased the 470,692-square-foot building in 2020 and subsequently launched a multimillion-dollar renovation. The transaction was among the largest office leases of the first quarter in New Jersey, signaling continued interest in the Metropark submarket, although additional details were not immediately available.
Wells Fargo declined to comment, as did brokers involved in the deal. The website for 194 Wood lists Avison Young’s Jeff Heller and Bill McCaffrey as the building’s leasing agents, while Newmark’s Kevin Murphy represented the tenant in the deal.
Opal Holdings, which owns several buildings in Metropark, announced in fall 2021 that it had kicked off upgrades such as an enhanced lobby with a video screen wall, café renovations, a new fitness center and updated exterior amenity spaces. That work followed its acquisition of the nine-story building from AIG for $140 million.
Like other properties in the submarket, 194 Wood offers direct access to the Garden State Parkway and is minutes from routes 1 and 9, Interstate 287 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
Opal, Avison Young detail start of upgrades at 425,000 sq. ft. Metropark office building