Page 6 - Issue 45 Sept2020
P. 6

4 SEPTEMBER 2020
THE BRIEFING
    AIG SELLS 471,000 SQ. FT. METROPARK OFFICE BUILDING FOR $140 MILLION
tenants, with investment-grade companies making up nearly 90 percent of the roster.
“SJP has a reputation for building exceptional product that withstands the test of time and this asset is a prime example,” DiTommaso said. “Opal Holdings recognized the rare opportunity to own a premier building in Metropark, which has remained
one of the dominant submarkets in the New York Metropolitan Area year after year.”
C&W also touted the adjacent Metropark station, which offers Amtrak and NJ Transit rail and bus service, making it easily accessible to commuters from northern, central and southern New Jersey and New York City.
Insurance giant AIG has sold a 470,692-square-foot office building in Woodbridge for $140 million, in a transaction arranged by Cushman & Wakefield.
Brokers with the firm represented AIG in its disposition of 194 Wood Ave. South, a nine-story property within the Metropark submarket. The buyer, Opal Holdings, paid roughly $297 per square foot for the fully leased building, which is anchored by IBM.
C&W’s Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Kevin Donner and Frank DiTommaso completed the assignment, with support from local leasing experts Kevin Carton and Todd Elfand. They also credited the role of SJP Properties, the building’s property manager and original
developer.
“SJP has done an excellent job operating and
  Gary Gabriel
maintaining this asset in recent years alongside AIG, preserving its trophy quality and elite status within the submarket,” Gabriel said.
Located just west of the Garden State Parkway and north of Route 1, the property has structured parking and
a full-service cafeteria, C&W said. It’s also served by two separate electrical substations and a full-building backup generator.
The building is leased to seven
194 Wood Ave. South in the Iselin section of Woodbridge
 DEVELOPER LANDS $116 MILLION LOAN FOR MONTVALE PROJECT
not have gone forward.”
In a news release, JLL noted that the 32.6-acre project at 1 Mercedes Drive will be adjacent to The Shoppes at DePiero Farm, a separate 26-acre project also developed and owned by The S. Hekemian Group. The properties are breathing new life into what was once Mercedes’ U.S. headquarters complex, before the automaker announced in 2015 that
it would move those operations to Atlanta.
“Being located in the Montvale/Saddle River Market and directly adjacent
to the Garden State Parkway and
The Shoppes at DePiero Farms, with its Wegmans Supermarket, North Market is very uniquely positioned,” Didio added. “It will be the premier apartment property in Bergen County
once it opens.”
JLL said the apartments at North Market will have
upscale finishes
and appliances.
 A large mixed-use development at the site of the former Mercedes- Benz campus in Montvale is moving ahead with the help of a $116 million construction loan, according to brokers with JLL.
The real estate services firm announced Aug. 26 that it represented The S. Hekemian Group in securing the financing for phase one of the project, known as North Market, just east of the Garden State Parkway. Plans call for six buildings comprising 350 luxury apartments, 40,500 square feet of boutique office space, a 150- room hotel, 94,500 square feet of retail space and a corporate office building
of up to 250,000 square feet.
An institutional lender and a life insurance company are providing senior and mezzanine debt, respectively. JLL Senior Managing Director Thomas Didio led the capital markets team on the assignment.
“The lenders did a terrific job committing and closing this project
in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Didio said. “If not for
the best-in-class sponsorship, The S.Hekemian Group, and if the project wasn’t one of the best apartment projects being developed in the Bergen County market, development would
Residents will
have access to
amenities such
as a courtyard
with a swimming
pool, sundeck,
grill and bar,
along with a fitness center, co-working space and conference rooms.
The S. Hekemian Group secured local approvals for the project in spring 2019, envisioning a walkable, urban district that would serve as a new destination for upper Bergen County. Earlier this year, the firm lured its first office tenant to the site when it inked a 20,000-square-foot lease with law firm Beattie Padovano LLC.
The law practice will occupy the fourth and a portion of the third floor of what’s known as Workplace North Market, a 52,000-square-foot office and retail building under construction at 200 Market St.
JLL Executive Managing Director Frank Recine represented The S. Hekemian Group.
Thomas Didio
 A rendering of North Market, a six-building, mixed-use complex at the site of the former Mercedes-Benz USA campus in Montvale
Courtesy: The S. Hekemian Group
Courtesy: Cushman & Wakefield
















































   4   5   6   7   8