SHI International’s new Ridge Integration Facility at 400 Ridge Road in Piscataway — Courtesy: Rockefeller Group
By Joshua Burd
Rockefeller Group is detailing the sale of a nearly 400,000-square-foot building within its new Piscataway industrial park, touting the deal as a sign of diversification within the asset class.
The firm and its joint venture partner, PCCP LLC, announced Thursday that SHI International has purchased the 396,750-square-foot property at 400 Ridge Road for $59.5 million. The Somerset-based IT solutions provider will use the building to expand its data center services, such as combining components from multiple manufacturers into ready-to-deploy rack systems.
The deal marks the fourth sale of a building with the 2.1 million-square-foot Rockefeller Group Logistics Center, which is approaching full build-out. The firm noted that it developed 400 Ridge Road specifically for an IT tenant, citing features such as 36-foot clear ceiling heights, a primary service connection with a full-building backup generator and a chiller plant for tenant data and software equipment.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Stan Danzig, Jules Nissim and Marc Petrella represented the seller, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Shawn Straka represented the buyer.
“The addition of SHI to Rockefeller Group Logistics Center shows the growing diversity of logistics parks, that they can attract uses other than warehousing and distribution,” said Heath Abramsohn, a Rockefeller Group vice president and regional director for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania region. “SHI had a unique vision for their integration center, and we were able to accommodate them by developing a facility that could serve as a high-end IT configuration center with a large number of employees.”
SHI, one of North America’s top 10 largest IT solutions providers, opened a 300,000-square-foot facility in Piscataway in 2016 that doubled its capacity to warehouse, process and configure mobile devices, end-user systems and data center hardware solutions for its clients, according to a news release. The new facility will expand its capabilities in that area.
Other features at the building include a steel platform mezzanine for specialized mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment to support SHI’s data operation and increased roof load to accommodate a solar rooftop application.
“This new facility allows SHI to scale with customer demand as organizations increasingly adopt and deploy hybrid cloud and data center technologies,” said Thai Lee, CEO and president of SHI International. “Rockefeller Group Logistics Center has the infrastructure in place to support our technical needs and the location is ideal for our company as we continue to grow nationally. This state-of-the-art data center adds to our footprint in New Jersey, and positions SHI to have the largest IT integration footprint east of Chicago.”
Rockefeller has one remaining building under construction at the complex, which totals roughly 200,000 square feet and is expected to be completed and leased later this month.
