1 University Square Drive in West Windsor — Courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
Blackrock has signed a major lease extension at a Princeton-area office building, where it will maintain a footprint of 176,000 square feet under the new deal with Argent Ventures.
According to JLL, which arranged the transaction, the asset manager will continue to occupy the entire third and fourth floors, part of the fifth floor and the ground floor at 1 University Square Drive in West Windsor. The early renewal also calls for Blackrock to shed part of its space on the fifth floor, which the leasing team said will be available this summer.
Blackrock has been a tenant at the five-story, 330,000-square-foot building since 2010.
“This is an ideally located property with market-leading indoor and outdoor amenities that support employer efforts to attract top talent to the office,” said Tim Greiner, an executive managing director with JLL. “The building is positioned to promote collaboration and innovation with easy access to numerous outdoor recreation experiences.”
The JLL leasing team for 1 University Square Place includes Greiner, Managing Director Tom Romano, Senior Vice President Vinny DiMeglio, Vice President Mike Pietrowicz and Executive Vice President Jonathan Ortiz, according to a news release. The firm also represented Blackrock, with New York Region Chairman and President Peter Riguardi, Vice Chairman Matt Astrachan, Managing Director Nicole Tiger, Executive Vice President George Gemelos and Associate Vice President Hannah Bernstein leading the assignment.
In announcing the deal, JLL noted that University Square has a two-story atrium lobby, a full-service cafeteria with private catering, a large media and conference room and a modern fitness center with locker rooms and a sauna. Other amenities on the 18.5-acre campus include newly revamped landscaping with a walking trail, electric car charging stations, a community garden and bocce, basketball and pickleball courts.
The brokerage team added that the property, which was completed in 2008, is equidistant to Philadelphia and New York City along Princeton’s Route 1 corridor. It’s also less than two miles from downtown Princeton as well as the Northeast Corridor’s Princeton Junction train station.
JLL is now marketing not only the partial fifth floor, but the full second floor and 13,000 square feet on the first floor. Other tenants in the building include engineering and environmental services firm Langan and investment consulting firm Mercer.
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