Woodcrest Corporate Center at 101 Woodcrest Road in Cherry Hill — Courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
The owner of a Cherry Hill office building has leased more than 150,000 square feet to Camden County, capping a two-year string of deals to bring the property to full occupancy.
According to JLL, the leasing team for Woodcrest Corporate Center, the county is the latest among seven newly signed tenants at 101 Woodcrest Road since Crown Properties acquired it in January 2020. Those users — which also include Auto Lenders, Radian, Penn National Gaming, Jefferson Health Systems, Conduent and Solar Xchange — now occupy a combined 352,520 square feet at the property off Haddonfield-Berlin Road and Interstate 295.
Dan Close and Rick Widerman represented ownership in the deals.
“The lease-up of Woodcrest Corporate has served as an exceptional model for leasing success in the southern New Jersey office market and the Greater Philadelphia region at large,” said Close, a vice president in JLL’s Cherry Hill office. “The leasing velocity and positive absorption at Woodcrest is a testament to Crown Properties which they have exhibited time and time again in southern New Jersey.”
JLL announced Monday that Camden County will occupy 154,211 square feet, noting that Woodcrest Corporate Center was 61 percent leased at the time of Crown Properties’ acquisition. Another 115,000 square feet of leases were terminating and coming back to the landlord at that point, adding to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crown Properties’ other South Jersey holdings include Woodland Falls Corporate Park in Cherry Hill, which was more than 40 percent vacant when it purchased the property in 2017. That changed within a year after the firm and JLL brought it to 97 percent occupancy.
JLL is also working alongside Crown Properties to reposition a recently acquired, 88,895-square-foot property at 50 Lake Center in Marlton, which has a large amount of vacancy.
“Crown Properties invests in their assets which makes them stand out from other landlords (and) owners,” Close said. “Crown Properties is currently renovating the lobby at 50 Lake Center as well as updating the lighting and pursuing a variety of food options. They are hands-on owners who listen to the needs of their tenants.”