Summit West at 556 Morris Ave. in Summit — Courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
Bristol Myers Squibb is looking to sell a nearly 1.2 million-square-foot life sciences campus in Summit, bringing the well-known property back to the market after it changed hands in 2015.
According to JLL, which is spearheading the listing, the pharmaceutical giant plans to occupy five of the nine buildings at 556 Morris Ave. under a short-term leaseback for 785,980 square feet. That will provide important near-term revenue during any plan to reposition the site, brokers said, touting the potential of an asset that has more than 650,000 square feet of research and development space alongside FDA-approved cell therapy facilities, among others, in a location that’s minutes from Route 24, Interstate 78 and downtown Summit.
JLL’s Jose Cruz, Dan Loughlin, Jeremy Neuer and Jim Medenbach are spearheading the offering with analytics and leasing support from the firm’s Michael Kavaler and Matt Loughlin, respectively, and assistance from Brett Paulsrud and Max Custer of its debt and equity team.
“Summit West Corporate Campus represents the rare opportunity to reposition a well-located, 88.4-acre corporate campus with premier infrastructure, gaining a significant foothold in a highly affluent and sought-after market,” JLL wrote. The team noted that the property is also minutes from NJ Transit rail service and easily accessed by a strong talent pool.
Built in 1954, with major renovations taking place from 2023 to 2025, the campus spans about 1.195 million square feet and also includes warehouse space, data centers, traditional office space, a 1,360-space parking garage and 1,471 surface parking spaces. The Bristol Myers Squibb team has occupied the property since Celgene Corp., the Summit-based biotech company it acquired in 2019, purchased the complex from Merck & Co. in 2015.
JLL added that the site has “significant value-add optionality through redevelopment, asset spin-offs and the development of additional buildings with ample allowance under (floor area ratio) requirements.” The property also has some 13 acres of developable land.
What’s more, the campus benefits from an extensive ongoing program of capital investment and new infrastructure, including the full interior and exterior renovations of two office and conference buildings totaling 199,898 square feet and a newly completed bridge connecting two other structures. Ownership has also made “significant recent investment into specific use-case laboratory space and increased production capacity.”
