Tesla Takes 927 KSF North of NYC

Tesla has leased a 927,000-square-foot building at Matrix Logistics Center in Newburgh, N.Y. Image courtesy of Matrix Development Group

Matrix Development Group has leased a 927,000-square-foot building at its Matrix Logistics Center in Newburgh, N.Y., to electric car manufacturer Tesla for a regional automotive parts distribution facility starting in October.

Located at 1396 Route 300, the property is located directly across from the Newburgh Mall and has immediate access to the New York State Thruway (I-87), I-84 and Route 300. The site is considered a strategic location for the logistics and warehouse/distribution sector and provides proximity to both New England and the Mid-Atlantic corridor.

Matrix, based in Monroe Township, N.J., received approvals last year to construct two speculative buildings at the site—the larger asset leased by Tesla and a 215,000-square-foot building. Maureen Halahan, president & CEO of the Orange County Partnership, said in a prepared statement signing Tesla is an example of the value of speculative development, particularly in a strong market like Orange County. The site is roughly 70 miles north of New York City and minutes from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge and New York Stewart International Airport.

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Alec Taylor, partner at Matrix Development Group, said the Matrix Logistics Center capitalizes on the micro asset of extremely convenient access to highways and the macro asset of reach within the broader Northeast corridor. He said industrial space is extremely tight and there are very few high-quality logistics facilities that can accommodate operations the size of Tesla. Taylor said obtaining nearly 1 million square feet of space in a single building was a critical factor in the site selection for Tesla. He also noted that Tesla will be able to benefit from Orange County’s growing labor pool, which is particularly valuable in today’s tight labor market.

Earlier this year, Tesla signed a full-building lease at the Empire West Business Park for a more than 1 million-square-foot industrial facility in Brookshire, Texas. Plans for the facility were unknown but it could possibly become a location for fabricating and storing power sources for vehicles. Several months later Tesla inked a deal to lease a 245,000-square-foot building in Marysville, Wash., to be used for a parts manufacturing and assembly plant.

Matrix Development Group assets

Matrix, a privately held, full-service real estate investment and development company with offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, owns several other industrial properties in Orange County, including Matrix Business Park, also in Newburgh; Chester Distribution Center in Chester, N.Y.; and Matrix Distribution Center in Middletown, N.Y. Since its founding in 1979, the company has developed 50 million square feet of real estate including commercial, industrial, residential, golf and hospitality assets.

In February, the company announced 37,000 square feet of new leases, expansions and renewals at One Riverfront Plaza, a 433,000-square-foot, Class A office tower in Newark, N.J. New tenants at the 20-story building included several law firms and a consulting firm that provides planning, architectural, engineering and construction management services.

Elsewhere in New Jersey, Matrix signed a 233,000-square-foot lease in November 2019 with pharmaceutical manufacturer CMIC CMO USA for an industrial property at 270 Prospect Plains Road in Cranbury, N.J., near the New Jersey Turnpike.