ISELIN, NJ-Cisco Systems Inc. has signed a lease for 45,000 sf of office space at 111 Wood Ave. S, GlobeSt.com has learned. The signing of the maker of IP-based networking and related communications products effectively leases up the 84,000-sf building, which is also known as MetroTop I.

The building's owner, locally based Atlantic Realty Development Corp., was represented by EVP Paul Giannone and VP Kevin Carton of Jones Lang LaSalle, which has the leasing exclusive. Terms were not disclosed, but comparable availabilities in the immediate market are generally listed with asking prices in the $24-per-sf to $28-per-sf range.

“The Metropark marketplace is thriving,” Giannone says. “There is a very high demand for class A office space in this market.”

Cisco Systems joins Chicago Title, the IRS, Sri-Lankan Travel, Dual Grid and New Horizons Computer Learning Center in the building. Going back a couple of decades, the building was an Eastern Airlines reservation center before that airline disappeared through a merger and vacated the space. MetroTop I was subsequently converted to multi-tenant use.

And MetroTop I is about to be joined by MetroTop II. As reported by GlobeSt.com, Atlantic Realty is set to start construction later this fall on the companion building, which will be addressed 115 Wood Ave. South. The new addition will be substantially larger than the existing building, comprised of 255,000 sf over nine floors.

“It's the first spec office development in Central New Jersey in 16 years,” says Giannone, whose firm also has the exclusive on the new building. When it's completed, MetroTop II will be connected to the existing building by a glass-enclosed atrium.