JLL completes 2 law firm leases at Gateway complex in Newark

JLL announced on Tuesday it has completed two transactions for two separate law firms at the Gateway complex in Newark.

Greenberg Dauber Epstein & Tucker signed a five-year, 10,823-square-foot extension on the sixth floor of One Gateway, and Landman Corsi Ballaine & Ford signed a 10-year lease extension for 23,563 square feet, occupying the 22nd and 23rd floors at the Class A, 543,494-square-foot building at 7-45 Raymond Blvd.

JLL’s Timonthy Greiner, executive managing director and head of agency leasing in New Jersey; Blake Goodman, executive vice president; and Colleen Maguire, associate vice president; worked closely with Onyx Equities‘ John Saraceno Jr., co-founder and managing principal; to represent building owners Onyx Equities, Garrison Investment Group, Taconic Capital Advisors and Axonic Capital, and co-investment partner Prudential Financial Inc.

“The Gateway complex offers four buildings of premium office space in downtown Newark,” Goodman said. “Greenberg Dauber and Landman Corsi recognized the value that Gateway brings to their employees and had the vision to commit to the building while Onyx Equities finalizes its multimillion-dollar capital improvement plan. The complex’s premium location and ownership’s dedication to improving the buildings has pushed asking rents to $37 per-square-foot.”

Since the beginning of 2019, JLL said it has completed 19 transactions, totaling 109,084 square feet, at Gateway, including the 18,700-square-foot lease by New Jersey Economic Development Authority/Choose New Jersey at One Gateway, the 15,749-square-foot lease by Prudential at Four Gateway and the 11,387-square-foot lease by HNTB at Two Gateway.

“Gateway’s reinvention provides not only a new front door for Newark adjacent to Penn Station, it establishes the finest concentration of prime office assets in New Jersey,” Adam Karafiol, senior vice president of leasing with Onyx Equities. said. “In collaboration with JLL, our initial leasing work has attracted not only the headquarters for the state’s economic growth agencies, it also has resonated with long-term Gateway tenants who have other choices within and outside of the city. We look forward to building on an excellent start.”

Onyx Equities owns three of the four buildings (One, Two and Four Gateway) in the complex for a total of about 1.6 million square feet of office space.

“Everyone at Landman Corsi Ballaine & Ford is excited to see the transformation of the complex into the new Gateway,” Gerald Ford, member with Landman Corsi Ballaine & Ford, said. “I also would like to thank Blake Goodman and Onyx’s leasing department for your patience and the very professional way in which the negotiations were handled. Our firm and its predecessor have been in One Gateway for 35 years. I don’t believe the building has ever been in better hands.”

Gateway, which was newly-redesigned by Gensler, has amenities including a skyway connecting One Gatway to Newark Penn Station, and a concourse with retail and restaurants.