Matrix Development Lands $93M for New Jersey Industrial Park

Matrix Development Group has secured $93 million in financing for Matrix Logistics Park, a 781,748-square-foot Class A industrial project currently under construction in Budd Lake, N.J., within the Mount Olive Township. JLL negotiated on behalf of the developer, while Bank OZK provided the loan.

Matrix Logistics Park will include two buildings at 2000 and 3000 International Drive. The first one will total 196,748 square feet and offer 36-foot clear heights, single-side load configurations, 34 loading docks, two drive-in doors, 43 trailer parking spots and 110 vehicle parking spots.

The 585,000-square-foot second facility will include 40-foot clear heights, cross-dock configuration, four drive-in doors, 107 loading doors, 143 trailer parking spots and 306 vehicle parking spots. The industrial park’s second building is currently underway on a redeveloped site that was the former headquarters of BASF United. In 2019, the developer acquired the 97-acre lot, and in late 2023, it began the demolition of the 930,000-square-foot former headquarters facility, almost two decades after BASF United abandoned the property, according to the DailyRecord.com.

A Foreign Trade Zone location

Matrix Logistics Park is within Mount Olive’s International Trade Zone, where multiple research, manufacturing and development companies are located. The area is designated as a Foreign Trade Zone, allowing companies to benefit from reduced costs associated with importing and re-exporting products.

The two-building industrial campus is close to Mount Olive Train Station, 17 miles from Morristown, N.J., 25 miles from Morristown Airport, 42 miles from Newark Liberty International Airport, and within 54 miles of Allentown, Penn. Additionally, Matrix Logistics Park allows easy connectivity in the area through Interstate 80 and state routes 206 and 46.

The JLL Capital Markets team that worked on behalf of the borrower included Senior Managing Directors Thomas Didio and Jim Cadranell, Managing Director Thomas Didio, Jr., Vice President Michael Lachs and Analyst Olivia Doody.

Recent industrial projects in the area

At the end of March, the New Jersey industrial market had 7.5 million square feet of space under construction, a recent CommercialEdge report shows. In the Northeast, the metro was outperformed only by Philadelphia, which led with 7.8 million square feet, while Boston followed with 2.5 million square feet.

Recent industrial projects in the metro include Rockefeller Group’s 1.1 million-square-foot campus in Carneys Point, N.J., which broke ground earlier this month. Rockefeller Group Logistics Center at Carneys Point is backed by a $114.8 million construction loan.

A joint venture between Creation and J.P. Morgan Asset Management recently secured $64 million in construction financing for McClellan, a 120,584-square-foot industrial project in Newark. The development is already preleased by Barsan Global Logistics and is expected to come online in early 2025.