Duke Realty Preleases New Jersey Distribution Center

150 Old New Brunswick Road. Image courtesy of Duke Realty Corp.

Duke Realty Corp. has secured a long-term lease with Bob’s Discount Furniture for its 622,230-square-foot distribution facility under construction at 150 Old New Brunswick Road in Piscataway, N.J. The distribution center is slated for delivery this summer.

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The facility is expected to receive LEED certification upon completion. It will have 40-foot clear heights, 125 dock doors, 302 parking spaces and 127 trailer spaces.

Chris Day, senior vice president of real estate at Bob’s Discount Furniture, said in a prepared statement that the company’s expansion depends on building out its distribution network. He said the Duke facility will provide the national furniture retailer with an ultra-modern warehouse space that will enable it to deliver better service to its customers in the region.

Ben Rosen, vice president of leasing & development for Duke Realty in New Jersey, said in a prepared statement the lease transaction provides another example of why the REIT continues to invest in developing state-of-art industrial properties in strategic, high-demand locations along the New Jersey Turnpike corridor.

Art Makris, senior vice president of Duke Realty’s Northeast region, said in a prepared statement the REIT worked with Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler and township staff to redevelop a site that had been vacant for more than 30 years. He said the Piscataway construction project is part of Duke’s growth strategy that includes the acquisition of infill properties and land for redevelopment in New Jersey and markets across the country.

Duke Realty’s New Jersey portfolio totals nearly 8.2 million square feet across 21 properties and is 100 percent occupied. Duke has recently teamed with Solar Landscape to launch the first community solar project in New Jersey that features more than 18,000 solar panels installed on the rooftops of four Duke buildings in Perth Amboy, N.J. The installation, part of a pilot program, will generate 11.1 megawatts of clean electricity that will serve low- and middle-income communities.

Rosen and his Duke colleague Cait English represented the REIT along with Chuck Fern, Thomas Tucci, Frank Truesdell, Jason Barton and Stephen Shoemaker of Cushman & Wakefield. Bob’s Discount Furniture was represented by Scott Belfer of CBRE.

Duke deals

In addition to New Jersey, Duke Realty is active in about 20 U.S. logistics markets. Earlier this month, Duke sold a 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center in Katy, Texas, that is fully leased to Amazon. Mirabaud Asset Management bought the property for $108 million.

In December, Duke Realty named Colliers International to oversee leasing efforts for its Raleigh-Durham, N.C., portfolio comprising 26 buildings with 3.1 million square feet. Also, in December, Duke paid $40.6 million for an R&D/office park totaling 286,330 square feet in San Jose, Calif. The company plans to demolish the existing structures and build a 303,117-square-foot speculative warehouse.