Larken Associates on Wednesday said construction started on the 19,000-square-foot professional and medical office building at Branchburg Centre.
Located at 3040 U.S. Route 22 W. in Branchburg, the office building marks the final stage of Larken’s value-add strategy at Branchburg Centre. The single-story office building will be designed with a modern flair and flexible built-to-suit floorplans. Each suite at the property will feature private entrances, private bathrooms and individual HVAC units. Construction will be overseen by Core Enterprises, Larken’s in-house construction team, and is scheduled for completion in summer 2022.
Acquired by Larken in 2017, the property consisted of a 74% leased, 90,000-square-foot office building and a large surface parking lot. Immediately following the acquisition, the company began a capital improvement plan to reinvent the existing office building as a modern corporate destination. During the process, Larken executed an aggressive marketing and leasing strategy for the building that resulted in 100% occupancy shortly after the firm’s acquisition.
The renovations included the addition of LED circular pendant lights, contemporary glass walls throughout, an updated lobby and a café with a main eating area and separate lounge. Other things were also updated including new carpeting, paint, wallpaper and flooring, as well as a new recessed ceiling and a modern wood tile accent wall in the main conference room. The restrooms throughout the building were also renovated, in addition to the custom exterior signage, a new monument sign and new front canopy glass vestibule.
Branchburg Centre offers a convenient location along Route 22 with easy access to Routes 28, 31, 202 and 206 and Interstates 78 and 287, which makes the property uniquely suited to attract growing businesses looking for space in Somerset County.
“Consistently ranked among one of the top places to live in the nation and already home to a wide range of businesses, Somerset County exemplifies the types of suburban office markets poised to emerge with strength out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Victor Kelly, executive vice president of Raider Realty, the in-house brokerage division of Larken Associates. “Through the construction of this building, we aim to tap into the highly favorable long-term growth demographics of the market and create a space tailor-made for the dynamic and growing companies hoping to call Somerset County home.”
