Piscataway Mayor Brian C. Wahler (center) joined Rockefeller Group’s Mark Shearer (left), senior vice president and regional development officer for the New Jersey/Pennsylvania region and Heath Abramsohn, vice president and regional director for the New Jersey/Pennsylvania region, to celebrate the opening of Rockefeller Group Logistics Center in Piscataway. — Courtesy: Rockefeller Group
By Joshua Burd
Rockefeller Group is hailing the lease-up and completion of a 2.1 million-square-foot industrial park in Piscataway, marking the successful redevelopment of a former manufacturing site.
The developer last week joined local officials, tenants and other stakeholders to celebrate the official opening of Rockefeller Group Logistics Center. The milestone follows some two years of construction along Ridge Road, where Rockefeller has delivered five buildings that have drawn tenants such as Best Buy, Fujitsu General, Humanscale and others.
In the process, the master-planned site has helped prove the strength of the Interstate 287 corridor as a viable industrial submarket.
“Today is a celebration of four years of collaboration between Piscataway, Middlesex County, the companies that have chosen to invest here and to become a part of this project, and all of our neighbors,” said Mark Shearer, senior vice president and regional development officer for Rockefeller Group’s New Jersey/Pennsylvania region. “This former brownfield site was considered a pioneering location, but we saw it as an opportunity to create new product in an older, overlooked market. Today this market is considered proven, and Piscataway and others along I- 287 are, and will continue to, benefit.”
Rockefeller Group acquired the site in 2017 from Lincoln Equities Group and Real Capital Solutions. The 228-acre property was the longtime home of a Union Carbide Corp. plastics manufacturing plant that required remediation, giving way to its future as a sprawling industrial park.
After a fall 2017 groundbreaking, Rockefeller made a splash with its first tenant when it secured a 725,000-square-foot lease with Best Buy. Other current tenants include KISS Products, SHI and Kuehne + Nagel.
“One of the biggest challenges facing mayors across the country is how to return deserted business areas to productive economic use,” Piscataway Mayor Brian C. Wahler said. “I can’t say enough about everyone who helped bring this project to fruition and thank Rockefeller Group for taking a creative approach to cleaning up this site, creating new jobs for our residents, and providing the revenue to build our community center.
“Congratulations to all of the businesses here and thank you for making our township your corporate site,” Wahler added. “We are thrilled that our residents can enjoy an even higher quality of life by working and raising their families in Piscataway.”
New 725,000 sq. ft. facility will serve as distribution, customer service hub for Best Buy
