Joel Bergstein, president of Lincoln Equities Group, spoke in late March during a ceremony at the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne — Courtesy: Lincoln Equities Group
By Joshua Burd
Lincoln Equities Group has completed its purchase of a 153-acre waterfront site in Bayonne, where it’s planning some 1.6 million square feet of new warehouse and distribution space.
The firm said Monday that it had closed on the acquisition, which centers on a large swath of the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne. It is now marketing parcels at what it will call Bayonne Logistics Center, following the announcement of its plans in late March.
Terms were not disclosed. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the sale of the site from the seller, Ports America Group Inc., and serves as the listing broker.
“Bayonne Logistics Center represents one of the largest port industrial development opportunities in the New York metropolitan region,” said David Bernhaut of Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase portside land with unparalleled maritime access in one of the world’s most land constrained port markets.”
Lincoln Equities Group, which is based in East Rutherford, projected that the redevelopment would generate more than 2,700 new jobs through construction and future tenants. The firm also touted the site’s immediate maritime access to the Hudson River and the Newark Bay via the Kill Van Kull, along with direct access to the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 78, Route 440, Routes 1 & 9 and Global Container Terminal.
In announcing its plans earlier this spring, LEG said it would create “next-generation” industrial space with ceiling heights of up to 50 feet. A site plan at the time showed four buildings ranging from about 157,000 square feet to more than 475,000 square feet, while the firm estimated that the project would take about three years to complete.
“As the e-commerce industry and same day-delivery services expand, the demand for industrial warehousing near ports and major metropolitan areas will rise,” said Joel Bergstein, president of LEG. “We see tremendous potential in this underutilized waterfront site and look forward to transforming it into a port related 21st century warehouse and distribution center.”
Previously, the waterfront parcel was part of MOTBY, which was originally a naval base and later repurposed as a U.S. Army base that closed in 1999. The site has remained dormant for more than a decade, but has attracted several residential and commercial projects in addition to LEG’s planned industrial park.
LEG details plans for 1.6 million sq. ft. industrial park in Bayonne
