An investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, and its operator and manager, New Jersey-based Saxum Real Estate, purchased a seven-building light industrial portfolio totaling 1.2 million square feet in East Hanover for $217.5 million from Urban Edge Properties.
The portfolio, according to JLL Capital Markets, which helped arrange the transaction, represents the largest industrial sale of the year.
The properties are located at 901, 903-906 and 601 Murray Road and 151 Ridgedale Ave., in the high barrier-to-entry and supply-constrained market of northern New Jersey. The portfolio consists of over 1.2 million rentable square feet across seven buildings that are fully occupied by 13 tenants. Key asset features include an average clear height of 21 feet and 945 total parking spaces.
According to JLL market research, the Morris County submarket is the fourth-largest in northern New Jersey, representing more than 33.4 million square feet of industrial space.
The JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team was led by Jose Cruz, Marc Duval, Jordan Avanzato, Nick Stefans, Jason Lundy and Austin Pierce.
“This was a remarkable transaction for both the seller and the buyer,” Cruz said. “The experience and financial wherewithal, collectively, was instrumental to getting a deal of this size done in current environment.”
“This portfolio, which was heavily competed for, demonstrates the available capital for industrial assets despite the challenges that the market is experiencing,” Duval added.