Northbridge Investment Nabs New Jersey Mid-Rise

By Gail Kalinoski

Rockaway 80

A Toronto-based real estate investment firm has acquired Rockaway 80, a 264,000-square-foot, Class A office building on an 11-acre site in Rockaway, N.J. HFF’s Investment Advisory team marketed the property on behalf of the seller, an institutional client, and procured the buyer, Northbridge Investment Management Inc. of Toronto.

“This sale reflects the increasing demand for high quality suburban office product and we are thrilled to have identified a foreign buyer for it,” O’Hearn said in a prepared statement.

Rockaway 80, built in 1991, is located at 100 Enterprise Drive in Rockaway in Morris County, N.J. It’s adjacent to Rockaway Townsquare and the Route 15/Interstate 80 interchange. The property is within walking distance to Wal-Mart and other large retail stores. The seven-story building has a two-story atrium lobby with reflective glass and a granite façade. Amenities include a full-service cafeteria and ample covered parking. Tenants at the building include Allergan, Regus and Reed Business Information.

The building had been owned since 2007 by Grosvenor Investment Management and Lincoln Equities Group LLC, which acquired it from Onyx Equities for $55.25 million. Lincoln Equities of East Rutherford, N.J., stated on its web site that it acted as an operating partner in the acquisition on behalf of GIM and was responsible for acquisition due diligence and underwriting, as well as ongoing management, construction and leasing at the asset.

The HFF team representing the seller included Senior Managing Director Jose Cruz, Managing Directors Kevin O’Hearn and Brett Segal and Senior Directors Michael Oliver and Stephen Simonelli.

In October 2008, HFF secured a $25 million mortgage from MassMutual for GIM. The owners received a $19.55 million loan from Investors Bank for the property in February 2012, according to Yardi Matrix data.

Retail real estate deals

Northbridge facilitates direct ownership for private capital of quality commercial real estate assets that offer distributable income and long-term capital appreciation. The firm has lead more than 150 commercial real estate transactions valued at $5 billion including industrial, retail and office portfolios. In addition to the New Jersey office building, other assets the Canadian firm currently owns in the United States include three retail properties – Kendall Pointe in Miami, Sheridan Village in Peoria, Ill.; and Shoppes at Boca Greens in Boca Raton, Fla.

Last month, HFF”s investment advisory team arranged the $20 million sale of Tamarac Shopping Center, a 68,534-square-foot, fully-leased shopping center in Denver for seller, DDR Corp.

Image courtesy of HFF