Central 9 Logistics Park at full buildout will span 4.1 million square feet across nine buildings along Jake Brown Road near Route 9. — Courtesy: Cushman & Wakefield
By Joshua Burd
2020 Acquisitions has landed three new tenants for its massive Central 9 Logistics Park in Old Bridge, filling nearly 879,000 square feet in a set of deals arranged by Cushman & Wakefield.
According to the brokers, the transactions at the planned nine-building, 4.2 million-square-foot development along Route 9 are as follows:
- Cross-border logistics firm Linktrans took 192,000 square feet at Building 6, located at 55 Jake Brown Road
- JD Logistics, a tech-driven supply chain solutions and logistics services provider, signed a 409,000-square-foot lease in Building 3 at 400 Fairway Lane
- KCL Fulfillment, an AI-enable large parcel fulfillment provider, leased 277,538 square feet for the entirety of Building 5 at 800 Fairway Lane
Cushman’s Mindy Lissner, David Gheriani, Morgan Nitti, Michael Ugarte, Bill Waxman and Jeff Volpi lead the leasing team at Central 9, which 2020 Acquisitions is developing under a high-profile public-private partnership with Old Bridge Township. Chuck Fern and Jimo Liu, also of C&W, represented Linktrans and JD Logistics, respectively, while Kidder Matthews represented KCL Fulfillment.
“The Central 9 Logistics Park is one of the most strategically assembled industrial parks in New Jersey,” Lissner said. “Beyond the central location, the project is being developed with the tenant in mind, benefitting from a (payment in lieu of taxes) program that offers a direct benefit to our end-users.
“In a state where vacant land is a commodity, the scale of this project can offer current and future tenants the ability to grow their business and establish a logistics footprint that can grow with them. We are eager to keep the pace of leasing up as 2020 Acquisitions kicks off construction on phase two.”
That work is slated to begin next month, C&W said, delivering an additional 1.6 million square feet to the market by fall 2026.
“Over the last 45 days we have signed three leases totally nearly 1 million square feet,” said Efrem Gerszberg, CEO of 2020 Acquisitions. “The feedback from our tenants has been that Central 9 is unique in that it sits on a major highway near the Port of Elizabeth, has little labor competition with an untapped local labor force and a long-term tax PILOT. Our long-term, below-market real estate taxes have been a huge advantage, as tenants are expressing their concern of increased property taxes across central New Jersey.”
As part of the agreement with the township, the developer made significant contributions to the community, including the development of an 18-hole public golf course, road and infrastructure improvements near the project, as well as a donation to fund the construction of a new firehouse.
