Trammell Crow Co. and a fund managed by CBRE Investment Management will build a three-building, 1.08 million-square-foot industrial park known as Arsenal Trade Center, as depicted in this rendering, with plans to redevelop part of a former chemical plant at 50 South Minisink Ave. in Sayreville. — Courtesy: TCC/CBRE
By Joshua Burd
A joint venture has closed on a 74-acre parcel in Sayreville, where it now plans to develop nearly 1.1 million square feet of modern industrial space across three buildings.
The partners, Trammell Crow Co. and a fund managed by CBRE Investment Management, expect to begin construction this summer at 50 South Minisink Ave., bringing new life to a piece of a former chemical plant site four miles east of the New Jersey Turnpike. At full build-out, the new Arsenal Trade Center will include rear-loaded logistics facilities of 284,341 square feet, 341,833 square feet and 451,602 square feet, as the developers look to tap into the still-strong demand from industrial users in and around central New Jersey.
Completion is slated for late 2023.
“Arsenal Trade Center represents a unique opportunity to deliver a world-class logistics park in one of the most sought-after markets in the United States,” said Andrew Mele, managing director of TCC’s Northeast Metro office. “We are pleased to partner with CBRE Investment Management on this venture and combine our teams’ deep expertise in industrial development. Not only will this project bring in-demand warehouse space to the area, but it will also bring with it many pre- and post-development employment opportunities.”
Ben Shapiro of CBRE represented the seller, Hercules LLC, an affiliate of Ashland LLC, in the sale of the property, while QuadReal provided construction financing for the project, according to a news release. The developers, meantime, has tapped KSS Architects as its design team for the 1.08 million-square-foot complex off Cheesequake Road, while RC Andersen is its general contractor.
The joint venture added that each building will have above-standard car and trailer parking, 40-foot clear ceiling heights, full site circulation and multiple points of ingress and egress. Users at the site will be within miles of the Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and routes 9 and 18, with easy access to the region’s vast population, including 2 million people within a 30-minute drive.
“This development represented a unique opportunity to meet a significant need for Class A logistics spaces in the central and northern New Jersey market,” said Mary Lang, head of Americas direct logistics strategies for CBRE Investment Management. “We believe that Trammell Crow is the ideal partner to help realize the vision for the Arsenal Trade Center as a critical hub in any modern logistics strategy and ensure that these assets are delivered in a high-quality, efficient manner that will both benefit our investors and capture continued user demand in one of the nation’s leading logistics corridors.”
The developers also noted they’re seeking silver designation on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scale.
“This was truly a team effort between buyer and seller along with the borough of Sayreville and the Sayreville Economic and Redevelopment Agency (SERA), its redevelopment agency, to redevelop an underutilized property,” Shapiro said. “All involved are looking forward to the transformation of this site.”
