Cole Real Estate Investments Purchases Sanofi-Aventis Building for $72.3M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

A subsidiary of Cole Corporate Income Trust Inc., an entity managed by Cole Real Estate Investments, acquired 55 Corporate Drive in Bridgewater, N.J., from Mack-Cali Realty Corp. for approximately $72.3 million.

The four-story, 205,439-square-foot Class A property was developed by Mack-Cali as a build-to-suit for healthcare company Sanofi-Aventis in early 2011.

“What appealed to us is a combination of investment-rate credit, it’s a long-term lease (still 13 years), a strategically important asset—part of their U.S. headquarters, and it’s a good-quality location,” Robert Micera, Cole’s chief investment officer for office and industrial, told Commercial Property Executive. “It’s in good proximity to the major highways in New Jersey and in good proximity to New York. All of these things combined make this fit right in with our parameters of seeking long-term lease transactions that have great creditworthy tenants and good rent growth.”

Cole Real Estate Investments has a number of properties in the area, all of which encompass its strategy of buying functional real estate with strong attributes.

“It’s a headquarters type of campus facility and there are other corporate headquarters in the area,” Micera added, pointing to the multi-tenant possibilities should Sanofi-Aventis ever vacate.

There are three other buildings in the campus that weren’t part of the acquisition, but the location represents nearly 20 percent of the healthcare company’s U.S. division space.

According to Micera, since the building is only a little over two years old, there are no immediate plans for renovations, as it’s a well-constructed asset with a lot of high-end finishes.

Mack-Cali Realty owns or has interests in 278 assets, including 269 office and office/flex properties totaling 31.1 million square feet and nine multi-family rental properties containing more than 3,300 residential units, all located in the Northeast.

“The sale of this property continues our strategy of monetizing non-core assets,” Mitchell Hersh, its president & CEO, said in a company statement.

Adam Spies, Kevin Donner and Neill Wessell of Eastdil Secured L.L.C. of New York, represented Mack-Cali in the transaction.