ROBBINSVILLE, NJ—The industrial market continued to display high energy in New Jersey Tuesday as Matrix Development Group announced it is putting up a speculative facility at its business park here and The Hampshire Companies reported the purchase of a prime property in West Caldwell.
Hampshire picked up a 210,000-square-foot building in the West Essex Industrial Park that is fully leased to RR Donnelly, a Fortune 500 company that is a provider of integrated communications. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Todd Anderson, a Hampshire principal, said the company felt “very comfortable” buying the high-caliber property situated in the same area of northern New Jersey as its recently acquired $86 million “Fairfalls” portfolio. That 26-property portfolio, sold off by Prologis in a blockbuster deal in December, includes properties in Fairfield and Little Falls.
Matrix says its new speculative project at the Matrix Business Park at 7A is a 183,000-square-foot facility that will provide features the market currently demands: 36-foot clear height ceilings and 52-foot-by-52-foot column spacing, with 32 overhead doors, two drive-in doors, 32 trailer storage units, and a 60-foot speed bay.
“We are seeing high demand for new speculative industrial development in the market, and our newest facility is specifically designed to address the requirements of companies in search of direct access to one of the world's top transportation networks and labor pools,” said James R. Murray of Matrix.
The Matrix park is set at the interchange of the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 195, centrally located between Port Elizabeth, Newark Airport and New York City to the north, and Philadelphia's docks and airport. It is also within a designated Foreign Trade Zone.
In December, Matrix broke ground on a 220,000-square-foot, build-to-suit facility for Falken Tire within the park. Before that, the company sold a prime lot to pharmaceutical distributor and healthcare technology company McKesson Corp. for a 350,000-square-foot facility. Also last year, Matrix built a 150,000-square-foot facility for Ritchie & Page Distributing Company at the park.
A million-square-foot warehouse for Amazon is currently under construction there by KTR Capital Partners, on a site that Matrix sold to KTR, Amazon's development partner.
Matrix is also reporting robust leasing at the park and its neighboring Northeast Business Park.
Currently, only about 58,000 square feet is available at the Northeast park.
“The central New Jersey industrial market is one of the strongest in the entire country, and Matrix is well positioned to capitalize on the continued momentum of the sector with a critical mass of strategically located, high-quality parks,” Murray said.
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