500 Plaza Drive in Secaucus — File photo/courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
Signature Acquisitions has added more than 446,000 square feet to its fast-growing office portfolio in New Jersey, buying a well-known property in Secaucus for some $50 million.
The building, 500 Plaza Drive, is part of the landmark Harmon Meadow district at the junction of Route 3 and the New Jersey Turnpike. It’s also known as the home of major tenants such as The Children’s Place and Quest Diagnostics, which occupy some 120,000 and 130,000 square feet at the property, respectively.
JLL capital markets brokers Jose Cruz, Jeremy Neuer and Bradley Wachenfeld began to market the property late last spring, with support from David Stifelman of the firm’s leasing team. Signature Acquisitions purchased the building from an affiliate of Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust, following the latter’s acquisition of the building in 2017 for $115 million.
“We are pleased to achieve another milestone in our disposition plan with the sale of 500 Plaza,” John Casasante, CEO and chief investment officer of Manulife US REIT, said in an announcement last week. “It has enabled us to get an early start on paying down debts maturing in 2026, and we intend to make a full repayment by 30 June this year. We are currently in divestment discussions on additional properties which will further contribute towards debt repayment. To achieve this, we are taking a disciplined approach to meet our obligations while carefully evaluating interest from potential buyers.”
The deal comes days after news of another acquisition by Signature. Brokers with JLL announced Monday that the firm had closed on One Jefferson Road, a 100,010-square-foot property in Parsippany, giving it three of the four office buildings in the complex known as The Center of Morris County.
JLL: Well-known 466,000 sq. ft. office building in Secaucus on the market for sale
