By Joshua Burd
A large Brooklyn-based publishing company is expanding into New Jersey with the planned acquisition of a 256,000-square-foot building in Rahway, thanks in large part to a 10-year, $8.25 million tax credit package from the state Economic Development Authority.
Site selectors WRE Consulting and ThinkForward Financial announced Tuesday that Mesorah Publications Ltd. had picked New Jersey to accommodate its growing space needs. The company now plans to acquire and renovate a facility at 313 Regina Ave. in Rahway, where it would occupy 130,000 square feet and potentially lease out the remaining space.
Mesorah, which focuses on the genre known as Judaica, was founded in 1975 and is now the largest publisher of its kind, WRE said. The operation encompasses a publishing house, printing and binding, but the company is operating near capacity in its 100,000-square-foot facility in Brooklyn, which spans two buildings.
Following the EDA’s recent approval of the incentive package, Mesorah has chosen Rahway over a competing location in Yonkers, New York.
“There is no doubt that the Grow New Jersey award was the critical factor in Mesorah’s decision to move from Brooklyn to New Jersey,” said Lee Winter of WRE Consulting, which advised Mesorah alongside ThinkForward Financial. He added that “the interest that Governor Murphy and the NJEDA showed in helping Mesorah also convinced the company that New Jersey was the right place to make a new home for the company.”
The move to the Garden State will enable Mesorah to expand and create at least 110 new jobs in New Jersey, the EDA said. The authority projects the project would have a net benefit to the state of $8.4 million over 20 years.
“The incentives will play a critical role in the company’s expansion and the creation of over 100 new jobs in Rahway,” said Sunil Aggarwal of ThinkForward Financial. “Mesorah has always been part of the community in which it operates and looks forward to continuing this tradition and strengthening its bonds with the City of Rahway.”