Construction is underway on Rockefeller Group’s new two-building industrial project that will bring more than 1.1 million square feet to Carneys Point. — Courtesy: Rockefeller Group
By Joshua Burd
Two new warehouses are rising along Route 40 in Salem County, under a project by Rockefeller Group that will add more than 1 million square feet to the fast-growing industrial submarket.
Located in Carneys Point, the complex is taking shape on Forest Avenue after the developer broke ground late last year at the 141-acre site, which it had assembled starting in late 2019. It’s now on track to deliver the project’s first building in the first quarter of 2025, with the second to follow roughly 60 days later, in a location that’s some three miles from both Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
“It took a lot of time to get to where we are today,” said Heath Abramsohn, vice president and regional director for Rockefeller Group, which is marketing the space alongside brokers with CBRE. The structures, which will span 530,000 and 596,443 square feet, respectively, will each have 40-foot clear ceiling heights, 10,000 square feet of office space and other modern features, while there will be a combined 245 dock doors and parking for 658 cars and 328 trailers across the full property.
Abramsohn noted that “inquiries are starting to come in” as market participants see the walls going up for both buildings. That’s likely to continue for a submarket that’s still on the rise thanks in large part to its labor pool and highway network.
“The employers within this region are attracting from South Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and even Maryland, which is commutable for the right job,” he said. “So, from a labor pool perspective, whether it be the workers for the warehouse or management, you do have a strong labor pool in that region. And there’s easy access.”
Rockefeller Group Logistics Center at Carneys Point will be the firm’s southernmost project in New Jersey to date. Abramsohn said the assemblage comprises 13 parcels that it acquired from 11 different sellers with the help of broker Ryan Curran of Curran Commercial, including single-family homes, barns and farmland, in an area that local officials had targeted for redevelopment.
That process took several years, during which Rockefeller sought to be flexible as those residents looked for their next homes, Abramsohn said. Yet it was clear that the area “was rapidly changing,” with a new 1.25 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center directly to the west and a separate, 1.75 million-square-foot industrial project set to rise to the east on Route 40.
The projects have come with major infrastructure updates, including the water, sewer and power upgrades at the Rockefeller Group site in addition to significant traffic improvements that extend across the highway.
“They’re looking to redevelop that entire corridor,” Abramsohn said, adding: “Carneys Point has been supportive of development. They recognize that it will help them in the long term from a job creation and a ratable perspective.”
According to CBRE, Salem County had more than 2.3 million square feet of industrial space under construction through the first quarter of this year. That represents a nearly 30 percent increase from the existing supply of 7.7 million square feet, while vacancy heading into the second quarter was about 12 percent.
Meantime, asking rents for high-end space in Salem County and in neighboring Gloucester County have increased in recent years to more than $12 per square foot, CBRE found.
With construction for the Rockefeller project well underway, Abramsohn hopes the firm can find a sweet spot for users in the 500,000-square-foot range. Buildings of that size are not as abundant as smaller warehouses, he said, while those that are closer to 1 million square feet have seen more tepid demand as the market has normalized after record highs during the pandemic.
“This is hitting that market where, if you start looking regionally, you don’t have many that you are competing against,” he said. “And on top of that, these buildings are designed to be demised appropriately.”
CBRE’s Drew Green, Tom Monahan, Larry Schiffenhaus and Brian Golden lead the leasing team for the speculative project, which Abramsohn expects will appeal to a wide range of users, especially given the site’s access to the Port of Philadelphia and other key destinations.
“We’re confident in the future of the market, especially as we deliver into ’25,” he said. “You can never predict the future, but we have a strategy and we’re comfortable with that strategy and confident in our decision.”
