Duke Realty Corp. has broken ground on a new 267,575-square-foot FreezPak facility at 2 Paddock St. in the Avenel section of Woodbridge, as depicted in this rendering. — Courtesy: Duke Realty Corp.
By Joshua Burd
Duke Realty Corp. has broken ground on a nearly 270,000-square-foot freezer facility in Woodbridge that will support the continued expansion of a locally based operator.
The real estate investment trust said Friday that the project, located at 2 Paddock St., will comprise roughly 209,500 square feet of freezer space, a 45,760-square-foot cool dock and another 12,000 square feet of office space for FreezPak Logistics. Plans also call for a 67-foot clear ceiling height in the freezer and a 30-foot ceiling height in the cool dock, along with 34 dock doors and parking for 70 trailers and 167 cars.
Executives with both companies joined local officials recently to mark the start of construction at the 26-acre site, which sits in the township’s Avenel section and just east of Route 1 and 9.
“Over the past several years, Duke Realty has continued to invest in growing our New Jersey footprint with strategically located, highly desirable developments,” said Art Makris, senior vice president of Duke Realty’s Northeast region. “As most U.S. food distribution is managed by third-party logistics companies before reaching consumers, demand for temperature-controlled storage and distribution facilities is growing and Duke Realty is ready to help meet that demand with the modern, high-quality facilities we are known for.”
In a news release, Duke noted that the build-to-suit, 267,575-square-foot facility is minutes from the New Jersey Turnpike and a short drive from Newark Liberty International Airport and Port Newark-Elizabeth. It’s also part of a growing warehouse district and submarket in and around Avenel, which is also home to Amazon at a neighboring property.
For FreezPak, which is based in nearby Carteret, the space will expand a footprint that also includes a 140,000-square-foot freezer warehouse under construction on the border of Newark and Elizabeth.
“FreezPak is happy to have the opportunity to leverage the many advantages that our new state-of-the-art, customized distribution facility will offer,” said Dave Saoud, co-CEO of FreezPak. Mike Saoud, the firm’s co-CEO, added that the company “is going to new heights with the power of automation.”
Duke Realty’s Ben Rosen worked alongside CBRE’s David Gheriani, William Waxman, Mindy Lissner and Kevin Dudley as the landlord’s brokers in the transaction.
“Successfully putting together a complicated build-to-suit transaction like this requires significant contributions from numerous stakeholders,” said Rosen, the company’s vice president of development and leasing in New Jersey. “We are tremendously fortunate and thankful to have excellent partners with Freezpak and Woodbridge Township that worked hard to make this project a reality.”
Mayor John E. McCormac called the groundbreaking “yet another milestone toward achieving our goal that Woodbridge Township remains the center of commercial development in New Jersey.”
“The 2 Paddock Street development project will transform the former 26-acre industrial site located in the Avenel warehouse district into a productive commercially successful facility that will benefit the township tax base for years to come,” he said. “It is important to note that this development would not have been possible without the commitment of Duke Realty, the Woodbridge Redevelopment Agency and the Woodbridge Township Department of Planning and Development.”
