New Jersey Industrial Asset Swaps Tenants

270 Prospect Plains Road. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield.

Pharmaceuticals manufacturer CMIC CMO USA has signed a full-building lease with Matrix Development for a 233,000-square-foot industrial property in Cranbury, N.J. Cushman & Wakefield represented the newly signed tenant in the transaction.

Located at 270 Prospect Plains Road, the building is on a 23-acre parcel zoned for light industrial use alongside the New Jersey Turnpike. Although Sun Pharmaceutical operates its corporate headquarters out of the asset, the new agreement included a lease termination negotiated with the existing tenant.

The lease agreement also included the purchase of in-place research and development infrastructure. As contract manufacturers for the pharmaceutical industry, CMIC CMO will use its space for office, research and development, production, packaging, manufacturing, and warehousing and distribution of its products.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Shawn Straka and Chuck Fern led the team representing CMIC CMO. Matrix Development’s Vice President of Acquisitions Gary Hans acted on behalf of the landlord in the deal. Earlier this month, Straka represented the buyer in its $60 million purchase of an industrial property 20 miles north.

The Garden State’s industrial growth

Northern and central New Jersey’s industrial market is flourishing, bolstered by steady ecommerce demand and growing cargo volume at the region’s ports. Average asking rents grew more than 6 percent year-over-year through the third quarter, climbing to $9.31 per square foot, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield.

Vacancy rates dropped to 3.2 percent, down 20 basis points from the same period the year before. Lower vacancy has spurred development activity: the market had 8.1 million square feet of industrial product underway at the close of the third quarter.