The Kiss Products Inc. logistics center at 600 Ridge Road within the Rockefeller Group Logistics Center in Piscataway — Courtesy: Rockefeller Group
By Joshua Burd
Rockefeller Group and PCCP LLC have sold a Piscataway distribution center for $65.7 million, their latest sale of a building within a 2.2 million-square-foot industrial development.
The joint venture on Wednesday announced the sale of a 469,600-square-foot property on River Road, part of the Rockefeller Group Logistics Center, which is minutes from Interstate 287. The buyer, Kiss Products Inc., is a global beauty company that will occupy the property later this summer.
“The interest in Rockefeller Group Logistics Center from prospective users that we’ve experienced to date has not only met our expectations for the project, but has actually exceeded them,” said Heath Abramsohn, vice president and regional director for Rockefeller Group’s New Jersey and Pennsylvania region. “This latest transaction with Kiss is demonstrative of the market’s appetite for well-located industrial development in New Jersey and is a further testament to the quality of next-generation product that we’re building in Piscataway.”
Rockefeller said the building will accommodate Kiss’ growing logistics needs, amid increased demand from its consumer base and national retail partners in the region. The opening of the new facility will coincide with the expected creation of more than 250 jobs in Piscataway.
“Kiss is excited to be relocating its distribution center to Piscataway and consolidating our four Long Island distribution locations at Rockefeller Group Logistics Center,” said Richard Kim, chief financial officer of the Port Washington, New York-based company. “Piscataway’s proximity to the port of Newark/Elizabeth makes it an attractive location for reaching our customers nationally.”
The Cushman & Wakefield team of Jules Nissim, Stan Danzig, and Marc Petrella serves as the exclusive agent for the development and represented Rockefeller Group in the transaction. Greg Brown and Tom Kirczow of NAI DiLeo-Bram & Co. represented Kiss, while the acquisition was financed by Citibank, City National Bank and Shinhan Bank America.
The deal follows several other sales at the property by Rockefeller and PCCP. The firms earlier this year sold two fully leased distribution centers to DWS Group’s real estate platform. The first building, a 725,000-square-foot distribution center at 300 Ridge Road, was fully leased during construction to Best Buy, while an adjacent 311,000-square-foot complex at 100 Ridge Road is split between Fujitsu General America Inc. and Humanscale.
The joint venture has also sold a 396,750-square-foot property at 400 Ridge Road to SHI International for $59.5 million, according to market reports. The transactions have validated the success of the master-planned project, which has transformed a former brownfield site.
Rockefeller acquired the raw development parcel in 2017 from Lincoln Equities Group LLC and Real Capital Solutions. Since then, they have managed to tap into the surging demand for industrial space along I-287, which is seen as a viable alternative to the New Jersey Turnpike Corridor.
“I am thrilled that Kiss Products has chosen our community at which to manage its logistics,” Piscataway Mayor Brian C. Wahler said. “Kiss will be a valued corporate partner to Piscataway which along with Best Buy, Fujitsu and Humanscale will thrive at what is now a state-of-the-art center for commerce that is providing good jobs for hard-working residents and welcome revenue to the township.”
