In another example of how hot the industrial market continues to be, Sudler Cos. announced Wednesday it has leased all four spec buildings, totaling 225,600 square feet, at its Corporate Park Lakewood prior to their completion, bringing the Lakewood portfolio to 100% occupancy.
The last of those four buildings, an 80,000-square-foot build-to-suit, is scheduled to break ground later this month.
“We have responded to the unprecedented demand for well-located industrial real estate by ramping up our development, construction and leasing activities despite the complications of COVID-19,” Sudler Cos. CEO Peter Sudler said.
“As demand is increasing, we are capitalizing on opportunities to update and expand our positions on those sites — and with our large land bank, we are able to respond rapidly to growth requirements.”
The largest property, at 1719 Oak St., totals 74,400 square feet for a light manufacturing user. The new 825 Towbin Ave. location features 40,000 square feet for Fulfillrite, an e-commerce distribution-driven business that is nearly doubling its capacity.
The third and fourth properties were leased to a longtime Sudler tenant, a pharmaceutical enterprise, soon to occupy a state-of-the-art 31,200-square-foot lab and logistics facility at 1220 Paco Way and the fourth, build-to-suit building at 1215 Paco Way.
Chatham-based Sudler Cos., founded more than 110 years ago, owns and operates three additional regional logistics/warehouse parks in New Jersey and a portfolio of properties in other states of over 7 million square feet, which are also running at near-record occupancy levels. In addition, Sudler presently has under development large industrial parks in South Carolina and Florida.
Brian Sudler, principal of Sudler Cos., said the leasing in New Jersey is an example of the confidence in the market.
“We have confidence in the market, so we are eager to build out sites in advance,” he said. “Users typically don’t want to wait for the 2-3 years it takes to develop a new location, so having ready-to-build sites is enormously beneficial. Often, as in Lakewood, our existing tenants are the first to respond when we can help upgrade or expand their businesses, because of our long history with them.”
Located on Route 70 with direct interchange access to the Garden State Parkway for employees, and to the New Jersey Turnpike and Routes 1 and 9 for commercial traffic, Corporate Park Lakewood has been a staple of the Sudler New Jersey portfolio for more than 45 years. The strategic location in Central Jersey is ideally situated between the New York, Philadelphia and Atlantic City markets and provides a wide range of advantages for Sudler tenants.
“Our Lakewood locations have supported some of our tenants for more than 20 years, and to have them expand into new facilities with leases that run into the next generation reaffirms our vision for the park and our culture of service to our tenants,” Brian Sudler said.
Sudler Cos. officials said the company has focused on Lakewood because it is specifically geared toward commercial and industrial real estate — largely e-commerce, pharma and warehouse operations businesses. It is the second-largest industrial park in the state and Sudler is the largest property owner in the complex. There are over 35 buildings within the Sudler portfolio that capitalize on this strategic location.
Blau and Berg’s Michael Shipper was broker for the 1719 Oak St. transaction and Mike Maroon of the Acclaim Group represented the 1220 and 1215 Paco Way leases.
“Sudler has enjoyed strong relationships with the brokerage community, and was pleased to work with our consistent brokerage partners on these transactions,” Jeffrey Hale, the director of leasing, said.
