CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD ARRANGES $78 MILLION SALE OF JERSEY CITY’S 2 JOURNAL SQUARE
Fully leased to Broadridge, the 325,000-Square-Foot Office Tower has been acquired by Gaia from Hartz Mountain Industries
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – August 17, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group (CMG) has arranged the sale of 2 Journal Square Plaza, a landmark nine-story, 325,000-square-foot class A office building in Jersey City, N.J., representing seller Hartz Mountain Industries. The buyer in the $78 million transaction was Gaia Real Estate Investments in partnership with Phoenix Insurance and Menora Mivtachim Insurance, both based in Israel.
Located adjacent to the city’s Journal Square Station, 2 Journal Square was completed by Hartz in 1987 and has been fully leased ever since to Broadridge Financial Solutions (a spinoff from ADP in 2007), a provider of financial services including securities processing. Broadridge’s current lease does not expire until 2018, with a long-term renewal anticipated. The property also includes a fully leased, ground-floor retail component.
“The fact that it has been leased on a long-term basis to a premier financial services company and has close proximity to Wall Street, 2 Journal Square drew a great deal of interest from potential investors,” said David Bernhaut of Cushman & Wakefield’s CMG, who teamed with Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel and Jared Zimmel to complete the transaction on behalf of Hartz. “The buyer readily understood the value of this offering as one of the premier assets of its kind currently on the market due in part to the building’s technology infrastructure, power and redundant systems.”
“The transaction was complicated, in part because it included a loan assumption,” said Merin.
In addition to its proximity to Journal Square Station, which is served by the PATH light rail system and several bus lines, 2 Journal Square includes a 715-car, four-level parking deck. Amenities include key card access and 24/7 security monitoring. With the change in ownership, building management will be assumed by Vision Property Management, a subsidiary of Gaia Real Estate Investments.
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