25 Market St. in Elmwood Park — Courtesy: Crow Holdings Development
By Joshua Burd
Crow Holdings Development has completed a 207,000-square-foot industrial project in Elmwood Park, bringing new life to the former Marcal Paper plant after the historic complex was destroyed by fire more than five years ago.
The firm, which developed the site in partnership with Marcal owner Atlas Holdings, is now marketing the space at 25 Market St. alongside brokers with JLL. In the process, it’s touting a distinctive design with a brick façade and black window mullions that evoke the iconic plant that stood alongside Interstate 80 for some 90 years.
The building also has large, translucent glass accent light boxes on the building’s exterior that marry the classic elements with modern design and pay homage to the neon Marcal sign that long served as a local landmark.
“Everyone involved understood the value of this property and what finding its new best-and-highest use would mean for the community,” said Clark Machemer, a senior managing director. “The fact that we have been able to bring this building online just five years after the fire is a tribute to Marcal and to the borough of Elmwood Park, which provided tremendous support for this effort to revitalize the area and stimulate economic growth.”
CHD noted that the new building, which sits on nearly 12 acres, has build-to-suit office space, ceiling heights with up to 40 feet of clearance, 56 trailer stalls, 32 exterior loading docks, two drive-in doors and a parking lot capable of accommodating 200 vehicles. It will also allow a user to be immediately off a four-way interchange of I-80 and minutes from the Garden State Parkway and routes 46, 21 and 3.
JLL’s Ignatius Armenia, Rob Kossar, Chris Hile, Ryan Milanaik and David Knee make up the property’s leasing team.
“This state-of-the-art facility checks every box for meeting current demand in the northern New Jersey marketplace,” Armenia said. “At just over 200,000 square feet, 25 Market Street is the ideal size for a variety of end users seeking the best features of modern warehouse design and unparalleled access to the area’s extensive regional highway network.”
The project will bring new economic activity to what was one of the most distinctive sites along I-80 before the January 2019 fire. The wind-swept blaze damaged or destroyed 30 of Marcal’s 36 structures and its distinctive red sign, while resulting in the loss of about 500 jobs at the time before Marcal resumed operations a year later.
“The completion of this development fulfills our desire to see the property destroyed by the fire continue to benefit our borough, our county and our state for many years to come,” said Rob Baron, CEO and president of Marcal Paper, which still operates adjacent to 25 Market St. “We are grateful that, in just a few years, what was once the site of a terrible event has been transformed into a new economic development opportunity for our community. We look forward to welcoming new neighbors to this incredible spot in New Jersey.”
Marcal, Crow Holdings bringing new industrial space to fire-ravaged site in Elmwood Park
