NEW BRUNSWICK-The New Jersey Chapter of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, announced seven finalists for its prestigious Deal of the Year Awards to be handed out May 17 at the 25^th annual Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala.

Three winners, one for Economic Impact, one for Creative Office, and one for Creative Industrial, will be revealed at the gala to be held at The Palace at Somerset Park.

Finalists for the deal with the greatest economic impact statewide in the last year include:

• The Panasonic Corporation of North America’s move of its US headquarters to a new built-to-suit LEED Gold-certified office building in downtown Newark. The milestone lease deal retained about 1,000 jobs in the state, and will generate an estimated $222.8 million in net positive revenue over 12 years. Matrix Development Group, SJP Properties, and Newmark Knight Frank were the partners in the deal, and the nominees are Hillary Budny from Matrix and Jeffrey Shotz of SJP. |
  • Green Mountain Coffee Roasters expansion to a new warehouse/ distribution facility in Robbinsville to service the Northeast last July. Kenco Logistics Services worked with a team from CBRE to meet the company’s specific requirement which added 350 new jobs in New Jersey, with anticipated growth to more than 500 jobs. CBRE, Green Mountain, and Kenco participated, along with Principal Global Investors. The nominee is CBRE.
  • Goya Foods’ purchase of a 40-acre brownfield site in Jersey City for creation of a 631,000-square-foot sustainable industrial property. The acquisition translates into retention of 500 existing jobs and 82 new jobs moved into New Jersey. Cushman & Wakefield, The Rockefeller Development Corp, Connell Foley, Sills Cummis & Gross, and Langan Engineering and Environmental Services worked on the deal. The nominees are C&W and The Rockefeller Group.

Finalists for the most Creative Office deal are:

• Ivy Equities, for its role in an adaptive reuse strategy that secured US Headquarters for Novo Nordisk in a Silver LEED-certified, 730,000-square-foot office facility with a 15-year lease. The project created 250 union construction jobs through April 2013, and 500 new permanent jobs. It retains 1000 existing jobs in New Jersey. LCOR Inc. and Intercontinental Real Estate Company were also partners on the deal. Newmark Knight Frank repped the tenant.

• The Hampshire Companies, for a relocation deal creating new LEED Silver-certified U.S. headquarters for Realogy Corporation in Madison. The deal retains 1,300 jobs in New Jersey. Newmark Knight Frank, Drinker Biddle & Reath, NJEDA, Kohn Pederson Fox and Tishman Construction were involved in the transaction.

The two nominees for the most Creative Industrial deal are:

• KTR Capital Partners for a deal resulting in I/O Data Centers selecting a New Jersey site for creation of the world’s largest data center, after KTR worked with Jones Lang LaSalle to launch a marketing campaign highlighting the power and fiber capacity available.
• Elberon Development Co., for a deal saving 345 jobs in Elizabeth, and adding 140 temporary construction jobs through 2013 as Wakefern Food Corp.’s facilities are renovated. The company was relocated and will return to its original location. Langan Engineering and Environmental Services also worked on the project.

The Gala will also honor recipients of the 2012 Commercial Real Estate Awards: L. Robert Lieb, chairman and CEO of Mountain Development Corp., will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Impact Awards will be presented to Andrew J. Merin of C&W, and T&M Associates. The law firm Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer will receive the Industry Service Award. Seena Stein, of Newmark Knight Frank, will be honored with the Chairman's Award. The 25^th Anniversary Gala is chaired by Gretchen Wilcox of G .S. Wilcox & Co., William Hanson of NAI James E. Hanson, and Clark Machemer of Rockefeller Group Development Corp.