330 Washington Ave. in Carlstadt — Courtesy: Avison Young
By Joshua Burd
Prologis Inc. and a visual communications firm have renewed and extended a nearly 107,000-square-foot lease in Carlstadt, under a newly announced transaction by Avison Young.
The real estate services firm said it represented the tenant, Visual Graphics Systems, in the 106,890-square-foot deal at 330 Washington Ave. The occupier — which designs and makes indoor and outdoor products such as signage, way finding programs and menu boards — uses the building for its administrative headquarters along with its in-house design studio and manufacturing space, product development, value-engineering and rapid prototyping.
Avison Young’s Ed English, Ron Ganter, Tom Giannone and Paul Errigo completed the assignment out of the firm’s Metropark office, noting that the deal comes with two years remaining on VSG’s current lease. Prologis’ Jason Tenenbaum represented ownership in-house.
Along with negotiating the extension, VSG engaged Avison Young to manage the shift from a traditional lease to Prologis’ new Clear Lease format, according to a news release. The streamlined concept includes base rent but then fixes all operating and capital expenses, except for property taxes, for the term of the lease.
The Avison Young team said that, by securing an early renewal and extension at 330 Washington Ave., it allowed VGS to stay in the saturated Carlstadt and Rutherford submarket. The brokerage team also negotiated other terms including a tenant improvement package.
“Markets like Carlstadt/Rutherford have seen rents increase more than 60 percent since 2009, and those increases can have a severe impact on a tenant if they are simply reacting to the market,” English said. “Smart tenants like VGS are being proactive and strategic about their real estate. VGS’s mission was consistent throughout this process — use our real estate to put our customers, our employees, and our shareholders in the best position possible for the future. And it was a great experience to help them see that through.”
