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4 APRIL 2021
THE BRIEFING
MACK-CALI INKS $254 MILLION SALE OF METROPARK OFFICE PORTFOLIO
percent leased to blue-chip tenants.
“This sale marks a key milestone in our strategy to sell non-core suburban office assets, which we expect to substantially
complete in the
near future,”
Mack-Cali CEO
Mahbod Nia said.
“I commend the
team’s focus and
tireless efforts
to bring such
a significant
transaction across the finish line despite the challenges of the current environment.”
The REIT’s plan to divest of its suburban office holdings is several years in the making, as it looks to focus on its flagship Harborside complex in Jersey City and its growing multifamily portfolio and construction pipeline. It also completed upgrades at the Metropark portfolio in 2018 as part of a plan at the time to reinvest in its higher-end suburban assets.
It now plans to use proceeds from the portfolio sale to pay down its unsecured corporate debt during the second quarter of 2021, the company said.
“We have made significant strides in executing our plan to divest non-core assets at a rapid pace,” said Ricardo Cardoso, executive vice president and chief investment officer of the Jersey City-based REIT. “Most importantly,
response to an email inquiry on March 9.
“After careful consideration, we have determined that the NJ market does not meet our strategic market criteria,” Croley wrote. “We will be closing the office on April 2.”
Transwestern’s New Jersey office was located in Morris
County. It was not immediately clear
how many employees were impacted by the decision, although the firm has had as many as several dozen brokers, project managers and other personnel working in the state.
The privately held company planted a flag in New Jersey in 2011 with the hiring of Jim Postell, a veteran broker who has served as its market leader. The team
we have not sacrificed value in these dispositions, and are continuing
to make progress on finalizing sale terms on the remainder of our non- core commercial assets.
“This deal was an enormous collaboration among various teams, and I am thrilled with the partnership and joint efforts which brought it to completion. Opal Holdings moved fast to take this opportunity to add to their Metropark holdings and worked hard to successfully close.”
The deal comes seven months after Opal Holdings purchased 194 Wood Ave. South, a neighboring 470,692-square-foot office building, from AIG for $140 million.
The Cushman & Wakefield team of Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso and
Seth Zuidema, in conjunction with Adam Spies and Kevin Donner of the firm’s New York office and leasing specialists Todd Elfand and Kevin Carton, represented Mack-Cali in selling the four-building portfolio.
“The sale of this Class A portfolio will potentially be one of the largest suburban office trades New Jersey sees this year,” said Merin, an executive vice chairman at C&W.
“We have a longstanding relationship with Mack-Cali, and we appreciate their trust in our team’s ability to continually deliver results that help further execute their greater business plan.”
earned widespread praise for helping spearhead the renovation of 300 Kimball Drive, a 400,000-square-foot former State Farm Insurance office building in Parsippany, to transition it to a multitenant property.
It was among the first high-profile suburban office buildings in New Jersey to be repositioned after
the 2008 downturn, giving way to dozens of other similar projects. The property also served as Transwestern’s home in the state until it relocated in 2018 to Florham Park.
More recently, the New Jersey team helped reposition and represent ownership at a two-building office campus at 170 and 180 Park Ave. in Florham Park. The former is now
a 147,215-square-foot headquarters and life sciences building occupied by the biotechnology firm Celularity Inc., which signed a full-building lease in one of the state’s largest office deals of 2019.
Mack-Cali Realty Corp. has sold four office buildings in the Metropark submarket for $254 million, as it sheds another key piece of its once- sprawling suburban portfolio.
The real estate investment trust said
the buildings, which total 945,906 square feet, include 99 and 101 Wood Ave. South in the Iselin section of Woodbridge and 333 and 343 Thornall St. in Edison. Investment firm Opal Holdings purchased the portfolio, which is currently more than 90
Mahbod Nia
99 Wood Ave. South in Iselin
TRANSWESTERN CLOSES NEW JERSEY OFFICE AFTER 10 YEARS
Transwestern has closed its
New Jersey office, a company representative said, in a move
that comes a decade after the commercial real estate services firm
entered the market.
Kim Croley, the Houston-based firm’s executive vice president for national marketing, confirmed the move in
180 Park Ave. in Florham Park
Courtesy: Transwestern Courtesy: Cushman & Wakefield