Amazon has signed a lease to occupy Highland Cross, a 360,000-square-foot industrial warehouse that is being built in Rutherford, Lincoln Equities Group announced Thursday.
The state-of-the-art last-mile distribution center is in the heart of the bustling Meadowlands industrial market. LEG procured $115 million in industrial build-to-suit construction financing for the facility, a Class A industrial site that recently received requisite approvals.
Construction of Highland Cross is scheduled to be completed in early 2022. When it’s finished, Highland Cross will be on the short list of modern buildings in the Meadowlands, with less than 20 existing properties offering 36-foot-plus clear heights. The property will feature cross-docked loading, 70-plus dock high doors and 80-plus trailer parks.
“We’re thrilled that Amazon has selected our Rutherford facility for its latest delivery center,” LEG President Joel Bergstein said. “We have been working with Rutherford for 20 years and are excited to see this project come to fruition and create a ratable for the borough. It was this administration that supported the vision for industrial.”
Highland Cross is located at the crossroads of the New Jersey Turnpike and routes 3 and 17. The facility offers convenient access to New York City, the Port of New York and New Jersey, and 18 million consumers within a one-hour drive.
“We are excited to continue to invest in New Jersey with a new delivery station in Rutherford that will provide efficient delivery for customers and create hundreds of great job opportunities for the talented local workforce,” Amazon spokesperson Jenna Hilzenrath said. “This new delivery station represents Amazon’s unwavering commitment to safety, technological innovations and skilled teams who are obsessed with delivering for our customers.”
LEG was appointed by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and the borough of Rutherford as redeveloper of this 30-acre brownfield site in 1998. Working with the state Department of Environmental Protection, LEG developed and implemented a five-year Remedial Action Work Plan and successfully completed a wetlands mitigation program.
“Highland Cross is optimally positioned to capitalize on the sustained growth in demand for ‘last-mile’ industrial product proximate to consumers, labor and infrastructure,” LEG Acquisitions and Development Officer Lance Bergstein said. “The lease is a continuation of the success LEG has felt in the industrial space of late, including our Bayonne site — which will be occupied by UPS.”
Earlier this year, LEG announced that UPS will lease the firm’s waterfront Lincoln Logistics Bayonne facility. The regional hub and distribution center is being built on the site of the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne.
