1 Gateway Blvd. in Pedricktown — Courtesy: Galvanize Real Estate
By Joshua Burd
A global investment firm has purchased a 245,000-square-foot industrial building in Salem County, touting it as part of a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from commercial property.
Galvanize Real Estate, the sustainable real estate platform of Galvanize Climate Solutions, said the warehouse in the Pedricktown section of Oldmans Township meets its criteria for “significant decarbonization potential,” as it plans a major reduction of the property’s operational emissions. That will mean adding rooftop solar and other energy-efficient improvements, which it said will also increase the net operating income of the vacant property at 1 Gateway Blvd.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“We acquired One Gateway for its strong real estate fundamentals and profitable decarbonization potential,” said Joseph Sumberg, managing partner and head of Galvanize Real Estate. “GRE has been experiencing great momentum since closing on its first property in April. We’re thrilled to enter New Jersey and look forward to deploying sustainability technologies to profitably decarbonize the property.”
In a news release Thursday, Galvanize touted the building’s location near interstates 95 and 295 and the Port of Philadelphia. Its business plan for the asset includes value-add improvements and a reduction of on-site carbon emissions totaling as much as 20,000 metric tons over 30 years or the equivalent of nearly 2,700 homes’ energy use for one year.
There are currently only eight industrial and multifamily buildings considered verified net-zero in the U.S., the firm said in a news release. That presents what GRE said was a significant opportunity to acquire inefficient assets and invest in their decarbonization as part of a traditional value-add strategy.
“One Gateway is a great representation of our acquisition strategy,” said Nadine Anderson, Galvanize Real Estate’s vice president for acquisitions. “It is a well-located vacant asset, which we believe we are acquiring below replacement cost. One Gateway embodies both our value-add and decarbonization strategies through the lease-up opportunity at a low emissions asset.”
GRE investment professionals collaborate with a team of in-house scientists, climate technologists and policy experts who help to evaluate each property’s decarbonization potential, the news release said. Given the building’s vacancy, it plans to work with the future tenant to deploy solutions that both reduce the building’s operating costs and carbon footprint.
“One Gateway is a particularly exciting acquisition: the property is in need of a roof replacement but has an aging solar array,” said Nicolette Jaze, head of ESG and sustainability for Galvanize Real Estate. “We believe this building would have been transitioned away from renewable energy sources and we are excited to give it new life.”
