JLL to Market, Lease Cutting-Edge Industrial Project

By Barbra Murray

2505 Bruckner Blvd., Bronx, N.Y.

JLL has landed a contract for a cutting-edge industrial property in the Bronx, N.Y. The commercial real estate services firm was recently tapped by Innovo Property Group and Square Mile Capital Management LLC to market and lease 2505 Bruckner Blvd., an 840,000-square-foot, multi-story industrial facility.

Innovo and Square Mile will develop 2505 Bruckner on the former site of the Whitestone Multiplex Cinemas, a property the partners purchased from Extell Development in 2017, with the assistance of $54 million of acquisition financing. The site has location on its side; it allows for the servicing of Manhattan New York City’s remaining boroughs, as well as Westchester County and Long Island. Demand for such a facility already exists. “Instant delivery/same day delivery is forcing companies to locate in the heart of the population center, not on the fringe,” Rob Kossar, international director and head of JLL’s Northeast Industrial Group, told Commercial Property Executive.

However, 2505 Buckner will stand out for more than just its premier location. The facility may very well hold the distinction of being the first multi-story industrial property on the East Coast and the second in the U.S.  It’s a prototype that could influence projects to come. “This is one of the first of the next generation of infill industrial building design,” Kossar added.

Going the last mile

At an increasing rate, e-commerce and associated logistics companies are targeting local warehouse and distribution properties to facilitate “last-mile” delivery in response to customers’ growing demand for lickety-split delivery, as noted in a recent JLL report. The 2505 Bruckner project dovetails with the trend.

Work on 2505 Bruckner is on track to kick off in the spring of 2018 with the demolition of the existing structure on the 20-acre site. Said Kossar, “People will remember this building for decades to come for the improvement on urban logistics in New York City.”

Image courtesy of JLL