15 Mercedes Drive in Montvale — Courtesy: The Kislak Co. Inc.
By Joshua Burd
An investor has sold a Bergen County office building and acquired another property in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, as part of a recent 1031 exchange brokered by The Kislak Co. Inc.
The deals include the $12.5 million sale of 15 Mercedes Drive in Montvale, a 60,000-square-foot Class A office building and high-tech manufacturing facility, Kislak said in a news release. The seller of the single-story building is a longtime client, which went on to acquire a 180,000-square-foot office building at 1414 Radcliffe St. in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
“We are helping more and more investors acquire office properties,” Robert Holland, president, of the Woodbridge-based brokerage firm, said in a prepared statement. “Leasing activity has been strengthening and vacancies have been decreasing, and investors are taking advantage of opportunities to add stable and well-performing office properties to their portfolios.
“Initial returns and upside potential with these properties are often greater than those with multifamily or industrial properties of similar quality in similar locations.”
The Montvale building is fully leased to Coining Inc., the world’s largest solder preform manufacturer. Kislak Senior Vice President Barry Waisbrod represented the seller, while Vice President Janet Bortz represented the buyer, a local investor.
“The Montvale seller is a longtime client and wanted to exchange it into a larger multitenanted property,” Waisbrod said. “We were successful in helping to close both transactions for him.”
Bortz added that the property has a triple net lease with regular increases.
“The property condition, tenant’s financial strength and ease of management were all reasons our client purchased the property,” Bortz said. “He owns other single-tenant office properties in the tristate area and this was a good fit for his portfolio.”
The seller of the Bucks County building had acquired it from a bank two years ago and stabilized the property, Waisbrod said. Known as Island View Crossing, it is a large three-story building sitting along the Delaware River, with tenants including Lenox Corp., Staples Inc. and Strategic Distribution Inc.
The property was redeveloped from an industrial building to a Class A office complex in 2004, Kislak said. At the time of closing, the property was about 93 percent occupied.
“Once we made the Montvale deal, we worked very hard to identify the right exchange property for our client,” Waisbrod said. “We ultimately identified Island View Crossing, a strong and stable off-market opportunity with upside potential in an excellent Bucks County location. The seller had purchased it from a bank two years ago and stabilized it.”
