Work Starts on 158,000-SF Spec Building

KEARNY, NJ-Russo Development, based in Hackensack, NJ has started construction on the first 158,000-sf industrial building in the company’s new Saw Mill Park here. The facility, which will also have an office component to support the industrial space, is slated for completion by the end of this year.The building is also unusual in this current market in that it’s being done on spec. Indeed, Russo Development has been doing a lot of spec construction in the market in the past few years, having put more than a million sf on the market.”All of it has been pre-leased prior to completion,” says Michael J. Pembroke, vice president of leasing and marketing for Russo Development. “Saw Mill Park represents one of the only spec complexes that is currently under construction in the Meadowlands region. It has already created a significant amount of activity.”"We are aggressively acquiring new value-added redevelopment facilities and developable land throughout the region,” Pembroke adds.The initial building is half of the two-phase Saw Mill Park, according to Pembroke. A second building, also totaling 158,000 sf, is on the drawing boards for development after phase one is completed and occupied. The built-out Saw Mill Park, totaling 316,000 sf on 16 acres near Exit 15W of the New Jersey Turnpike, will be heavily landscaped, according to Pembroke, “to provide a corporate image.”Features of the park’s two facilities will be 36-ft clear ceiling heights, 500-lb. floor load, 47 loading docks and parking for 275 cars and 64 trailers, according to Pembroke. The site is also located within a state-designated urban enterprise zone, which carries a number of financial incentives for companies setting up shop there.The development cost of Saw Mill Park has not been disclosed.