TA Associates Buys 272 KSF Office Tower in Iselin, NJ

TA Associates Realty has acquired 99 Wood Ave. S., a 272,000-square-foot trophy office building in Iselin, N.J.’s resurgent Metropark office market.

By Keith Loria, Contributing EditorE&Y

TA Associates Realty has acquired 99 Wood Ave. S., a 272,000-square-foot trophy office building in Iselin, N.J.’s resurgent Metropark office market.

The 10-story office tower’s market-leading features were recognized with the 2012 TOBY Award (The Outstanding Building of the Year).

Cushman & Wakefield’s metropolitan area capital markets group brokered the sale.

“The property was appealing on a couple of different levels,” Gary Gabriel, Cushman & Wakefield’s executive vice president of its capital markets group, told Commercial Property Executive. “First is visibility. There are very few in the way of core-build properties that are out there for sale. It’s in the right location, has a strong amenity package and a strong tenant roster.”

The building has consistently outperformed the market and historically maintains a consistently high level of occupancy.

According to a recent office market report by C&W, the Metropark submarket is among the best mass transit-served office locations in New Jersey, with both occupancy rates and lease rates recovering nicely since the recession’s end. The report shows demand for quality space now exceeds supply, which has generated strong investor interest in the sub market.

The building has high visibility from the Garden State Parkway and benefits from its transit hub location at the crossroads of the Garden State Parkway, NJ Turnpike, Routes 1, 9, and 440, and I-287.

“The extra grab for this is its proximity and being walkable to mass transit, which is what makes the Metropark work,” Gabriel added. “I refer to it as an office oasis. It’s unusual in New Jersey to have a marketplace like this.”

At the time of the sale, 99 Wood Ave. S. was 91 percent leased, with proposals out to fill the balance of the building. Its roster of tenants includes Ernst & Young, Citibank, M&T Bank, and Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis.

According to Gabriel, the previous owner did approximately $3 million in improvements in the 10 years it owned the property and TA Associates Realty is planning to do some select upgrades and touches, but nothing monumental.

Working with Gabriel were Cushman & Wakefield team members Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Kyle Schmidt and Brian Whitmer, along with office specialist Ed Duenas.

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