HANOVER TOWNSHIP, NJ–After breaking ground last week, Vision Real Estate Partners, Rubenstein Partners and MetLife reflected on the success of the effort to redevelop the former Alcatel Lucent site in an exclusive conversation with GlobeSt.com.

“It's a great location for many reasons,” says Brian Fox, chief marketing officer of MetLife Investments, who, along with Vision and Rubenstein principals Eric Schiela and Sam Morreale, spoke with GlobeSt.com exclusively. “What prompted the decision principally was the ability to leverage new technologies and amenities for our employees, and to stay within the confines of this area. We wanted to stay close to our current location, which we really like, and we have outgrown that facility, so that was the impetus for the move.”

The three companies kicked off construction of the new global headquarters for MetLife Investments at 67 Whippany Road with a groundbreaking ceremony last week.

The 185,000-square-foot, class A build-to-suit office facility will accommodate 850 employees and marks significant growth of MetLife's investments business in size, scope and scale. The groundbreaking also marked the launch of 67 Whippany Road's 100-acre South Campus component. The 94-acre balance of the campus houses Bayer Healthcare's new, 675,000-square-foot East Coast headquarters.

“When we purchased the site, we never expected it to be something that was going to happen overnight,” says Eric Schiela, managing principal and chief operating officer, Rubenstein Partners, who noted the partners have been working on the redevelopment of the former Alcatel Lucent tract since 2010. “I think we knew that it was going to take planning and perseverance to bring it all to fruition, but certainly very satisfying, first to be able to do Bayer right out of the gate, and to have something like MetLife come along not long after that, to have two great landmark tenants to start and almost finish the project.”

In addition, the building has been designed to sustainability standards for LEED Gold Core and Shell and LEED Platinum Interiors. The headquarters will feature an open floor plan with collaborative workspaces and breakout rooms, a town hall with technologically advanced conference facilities, a fitness center, employee food court with indoor and outdoor seating, and café. It will offer approximately 4.5 parking spaces per 1,000 feet of rentable area, through a combination of surface, structured and under building executive parking.

“What we envisioned here was an incredibly unique, 200-acre corporate campus,” says Morreale. “It really became a palette for our collective redevelopment and development skills. We felt strategically, being in the heart of Morris County, it would be an opportunity for new development. The building is being crafted to meet the new generation of workforce standards with a sustainable, world-class, environment and a full amenity package for its regional employees.”

Rubenstein Partners and Vision Real Estate Partnerscontinue to pursue further development of the remaining acreage in the South Campus section. The joint venture partners intend to create a mixed-use environment, with retail, hospitality, residential and senior living uses possible to complement the corporate offices. Cushman & Wakefield represented both the developers and the tenant in this major build-to-suit lease transaction.

You can hear the entire conversation with Morreale, Fox and Schiela in the audio player below.