83 Stults Road in Dayton — Courtesy: Accordia Realty Ventures
By Joshua Burd
More than a decade after its founding, a Fairfield-based real estate firm has entered the industrial market with two recent acquisitions and its plans for a new speculative warehouse project.
The firm, Accordia Realty Ventures, said it recently acquired a 369,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution building in the Dayton section of South Brunswick and a 237,600-square-foot bulk warehouse in Holbrook, New York. At the former, which is located at 83 Stults Road, Accordia is planning $10 million in upgrades to modernize the property.
The South Brunswick property also has excess acreage, where the firm is now seeking approvals to build a 220,000-square-foot industrial property, according to a news release.
“There is an increasing need for warehouse/distribution space driven by many factors but especially e-commerce,” said Joe Romano, a principal with the firm. “We’re hoping to capitalize on current market conditions and, with additional deals in the pipeline, expect to grow this segment of our business considerably over the next 18 to 24 months.”
Romano and his fellow principal, Jason Bogart, both have roots in industrial real estate, the news release said. Before starting Accordia in 2002, Romano ran the sprawling Raritan Center industrial park in Middlesex County for more than 10 years as a member of Summit Associates.
While there, he also oversaw the development of warehouses for Wilson Sporting Goods, Michelin Tire, American Hospital Supply, PSE&G and William Grant Scotch.
Bogart, meantime, has been involved in the acquisition and sale of several industrial projects such as Middlebrook Crossroads and 65 Readington in Branchburg, the firm said.
Romano said this week that it was “always a corporate goal of ours to get back into the business when the timing was right.”
Under a joint venture with Drake Real Estate Partners, Accordia acquired the Holbrook property from Centre Lane Partners LLC. The building sits at 4320 Veterans Memorial Hwy. in the heart of the office, retail and industrial corridor of Veterans Memorial Highway in Suffolk County, which has a warehouse vacancy rate of 2 percent.
The property offers tenants 18-foot to 28-foot clear ceiling heights, 36 docks and parking for 418 cars and/or trailers, the news release said. With 32-foot-by-40-foot column spacing and three-sided loading, the building can accommodate both multitenant and single tenant occupancies.
It is currently 100 percent leased to Nature’s Bounty Vitamins and Centre Lane subsidiary Vitamin World Inc.
“This was an excellent opportunity to acquire a well-located asset in one of the tightest warehouse markets in the U.S.,” Bogart said.
The South Brunswick property is adjacent to New Jersey Turnpike Interchange 8A. Accordia acquired it from Hermann Warehouse Corp. and completed a short-term leaseback with the company, while planning a $10 million capital campaign aimed at modernizing the 1970s, rail-served property within the next 18 months.
Those improvements include reskinning the building, raising the roof from 24-foot to 32-foot clear height ceilings and installing a modern sprinkler system.
