Page 22 - RE-NJ #80 Nov.2023

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spawned a plan that incorporated the Rose and Lambertson site into the off-tract improvements for Gerszberg’s industrial park, at a cost of roughly $15 million.
“I need this project because I’m a businessman. They need this project because they need the ratables,” he said. “And with that — it’s impressive — you’re finding a ‘We’re going to work with you to get this done’ attitude.”
The finished product is something that seemingly excites Gerszberg as much or more than 4 million square feet of new warehouse space. He believes the greens at The Rose “are second to none” for a public course, which he showed off recently during a tour of the property.
“We’re talking about every different type of famous greens, from Redan to Biarritz,” he said, adding that his goal was to evoke a midlevel private club.
Importantly, 2020 will manage the course for at least five years with options to do so for as long as 20 years, he said, in order to help maintain the quality of the property while displaying the firm’s long- term commitment. It has hired Ryan McDonald, a former assistant pro at Due Process, to serve as director of golf at The Rose.
“There’s just a tidal wave of excitement from everybody,” McDonald
said. “I feel like
and 11, providing easy access to Port Newark-Elizabeth. Users will also
be minutes from large population clusters in every direction, thanks to a highway network that also includes routes 18, 34 and 33.
“I just thought, logistically, it was perfection,” Gerszberg said. “And at that point — and I’ve done a lot of development — I understood the scope of what I could do here.”
He also pointed to the opportunity to “ladder the sizes” by providing tenants with options from under 200,000 square feet to more than 800,000 square feet, including the 495,086-square-foot facility that is now online and two other buildings that will deliver by year-end.
That’s not to mention the fact that vacancy will likely remain low in the coming years, amid mounting pushback against new industrial development.
“I think you’ll have a year and a
half (with) a lack of new starts,” he said. “So I think that it’s a great time for industrial because eventually over the next, let’s call it 12 to 15 months, that’s when supply will be constrained.”
Old Bridge has already reaped benefits from the project, even beyond the new golf course.
Gerszberg cited the more than $17 million in road improvements near routes 9 and 516, while the firm donated $100,000 and land to the fire department to build a new firehouse. Additionally, the Old Bridge school board earned $10 million from the sale of a parcel that accounts for 25 percent of the Central 9 assemblage, while the fully built logistics hub
will generate $6 million in annual tax revenue.
Those outcomes, as well as the overall good working relationship with the municipality, have become a point of pride for Gerszberg, who expects it to be “the biggest project I’ll ever do.” Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry was equally bullish on the public-private collaboration, calling the project historic for the township “because of the monumental task
it took for us to be standing here today.”
He also praised Gerszberg for his good will and his follow-through.
“This is going to be here for the current and the future residents and generations of Old Bridge,” Henry said during a ribbon-cutting in late September. “The economic along with the social benefits, far outweigh ... anything negative that anyone can say about this project that Efrem has brought to Old Bridge.” RE ”
they’ve been waiting for this for so many years ... but now it’s finally here, and it’s fun to watch them walk around
Ryan McDonald
the building and see this for the first time.”
Gerszberg also hopes that including both a driving range and miniature golf will help contribute to the property’s long-term success and boost its appeal for the community at large, with plans to program the club with food trucks, live music and other entertainment.
“At the end of the day, I’m a golfer,” he said. “I understand that it’s such
a massively small segment of the general population. But if you bring miniature golf, that means that every single kid — and grandfather and grandson and granddaughter — can all play together. Now it becomes a community hub.”
All the while, the firm is developing a massive industrial park that will connect tenants to two interchanges on the New Jersey Turnpike, exits 9
Designed by Egg Harbor City-based Stephen Kay, the Old Bridge Golf Club at Rose-Lambertson includes a par 71 course with a 30-bay driving range, a high-end miniature golf course and a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse.