Less than a month after putting a 1 million-square-foot industrial property off Exit 8A on the market, financial firm BlackRock has sold the property to invesment giant Morgan Stanley for an undisclosed sum.
The site, a six-building investment portfolio piece in Cranbury, consists of 3 Fitzgerald Avenue (151,000 square feet), 6 Fitzgerald Avenue, (204,000 square feet), 3 South Middlesex Avenue (170,000 square feet), 17 South Middlesex Avenue (195,000 square feet), 32 Commerce Court (161,500 square feet), and 145,000 square feet along Engelhard Drive.
The deal also includes a vacant 75,000-square-foot space in a complex that is 93-percent occupied. The current tenant roster includes Villeroy & Boch, Dr. Jay’s, Vertis, NAL Worldwide, Santini/NYDC, Hair System, Illinois Tool Works, and Sonsopete/Pack-Rat.
Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, and Gary Gabriel of New York-based Capital Markets Group, along with Frank Caccavo and Jason Goldman of Cushman and Wakefield’s Edison office represented BlackRock and procured the buyer, Morgan Stanley Prime Market Brokerage.
In a sign of improving times for the beleaguered Exit 8A industrial market, Merin said that his firm received 12 offers on the property in less than four weeks. He said the deal marks a shift toward more investment-oriented deals in the submarket.
“The market has clearly turned the corner and when we look back, people will probably say that this sale was the kick-off of a return to a more active trading market in the Exit 8A submarket,” he said.
