111 Ideation Way in Nutley — Courtesy: Prism Capital Partners
By Joshua Burd
Prism Capital Partners has sold a 157,000-square-foot life sciences building at its ON3 campus, in a sign of investor appetite for modern lab and research and development space.
The four-story property, 111 Ideation Way in Nutley, is an original piece of the campus that is fully leased to tenants including the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation, Modern Meadow and Y-mAbs Therapeutics Inc. Harrison Street, an investment management firm, purchased the building for an undisclosed price.
“As ON3’s flagship lab facility, 111 Ideation Way speaks to the market’s sustained demand for modern R&D space,” said Eugene Diaz, a principal partner with Prism. “Our vision is that ON3 will continue to evolve into a vital hub for industry leaders in life sciences and biotech.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso and Kyle Schmidt brokered the transaction, with support from John Alascio and Sridhar Vankayala of the firm’s equity, debt and structured finance team in East Rutherford. Harrison Street has retained Prism to continue managing the property.
The sale is Prism’s latest triumph at ON3, a 116-acre redevelopment straddling Nutley and Clifton. The property is the former site of Hoffmann-LaRoche’s iconic research campus along Route 3, which the developer acquired in fall 2016 with plans for a sprawling, mixed-use project that capitalizes on its highway access and its proximity to Manhattan.
Five buildings from the Roche campus remained when Prism completed its acquisition, including 111 Ideation Way. The firm subsequently backfilled the property with users such as Modern Meadow, a leading bio-fabrication R&D company, which was drawn to the high-end facilities and infrastructure that were left by the pharmaceutical giant.
Hackensack Meridian’s Center for Discovery and Innovation, a National Health Institute-designated clinical research center, and Y-mAbs Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical firm that develops therapeutic oncology solutions, have also found a home there.
“The sale of 111 Ideation Way is a strong example of how specialized life sciences product is in high demand within the real estate capital markets,” Merin said. “This transaction also further validates ON3’s emergence as the leading center for life sciences (and) medical facilities.”
ON3 is also home to the Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine. Other in-place and incoming occupants include Eisai Inc., Ralph Lauren Corp., Quest Diagnostics and Seton Hall University’s Graduate College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences.
“The ON3 campus is the ideal convergence of education and life science, two pillars of Harrison Street’s investment thesis, and we are thrilled to join the park stakeholders with our acquisition of 111 Ideation Way,” said Mark Burkemper, a senior managing director and the firm’s head of transactions for North America. “We look forward to supporting HMH, Modern Meadows, and Y-mAbs as they fulfill their missions making a positive societal impact.”
Prism expects that more than 5,500 people will be employed at ON3 by 2021, while ongoing redevelopment also is creating hundreds of construction jobs. Its full vision for the project includes a vibrant, multiuse setting that integrates office and R&D facilities, recreational, residential, hospitality and wellness options, as well as other uses, all of them benefiting from a location nine miles from the Lincoln Tunnel.
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