08540. John F. Connelly, chairman and CEO. 609-987-4000; fax,

609-987-4517.

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NonProfit Sells Shared Office

Community Options is selling what was its jewel in the

crown, the Daily Plan It Office Center on Alexander Road. "We

have a debt service of $700,000," says Robert Stack, CEO of the

1,300-person nonprofit agency on Farber Road, "and the board of

directors thought it would be better to find other jobs for people

we serve and sell the property. If somebody bought it and ran it

themselves

they would make a nice living with it. It is very beautifully fitted

out."

Five years ago, he bought and opened this shared office space in order

to employ people with disabilities. The agency paid $1,050,000 for

the space and the fit-out and it is asking $1.2 million. Tim Norris

of Callaway Commercial has the listing.

The property is 7,300 square feet with "marble floors, great

parking,

and the cachet of Alexander Road," says Stack. The smallest office

is 150 square feet and the rent runs from $800 to $1,000 a month.

Stack had hoped to raise $800,000 to cover the debt service on the

high percentage mortgage, held by the Department of Housing and Urban

Development. But only $300,000 in donations was raised. With such

heavy debt service, the center was losing $100,000 annually. Donations

comprise only three percent or $700,000 of the agency’s total budget

of $35.5 million (www.comop.org).

Stack thinks a new owner could indeed make a profit, in part because

of a favorable mortgage. "Because we are losing money we can’t

get financed through any bank." Also because, without Community

Options workers, the center can be run with fewer employees. By agency

policy, each of the 16 Community Options employees earns minimum wage

or better.

"Our expectations with the fundraising work were not fulfilled.

But we have had a significant track record of doing fundraising in

other respects. If we had raised $500,000, I don’t think we would

have bit the bullet to sell it." Other properties that Community

Options owns, he says, "we were able to negotiate various

amortizations

with various state and private entities."

"If we didn’t own the mortgage, all the people could continue

to work there," says Stack. "We are working on finding them

jobs in other parts of the area."

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New in Cranbury

When Kerzner Associates opened Cranbury Gates Office

Park last November, most of its tenants came from the Cranbury area

— insurance consultants, a broker, a lab, and a professional

services

agency. "It was leased up before it opened," says Sandy

Kerzner.

But the project was a long time in coming. The property was bought

15 years ago. "It probably 10 years to get the project approved

because it needed a change of zoning," says Kerzner. Though the

property is located at the traffic circle, it was zoned residential

and is now zoned for professional office. The spaces range from 830

to 2,7000 square feet, each with its own entrance. "The whole

park is 18 acres, and eventually we will build out the rest of the

park," he says. "We have gotten a lot of interest from day

care centers, but we didn’t want day care at the front of the park.

Irving Kerzner, Sandy’s father, started in the construction business

in Jersey City 65 years ago, and the firm still does some general

construction, including the work for this park. Sandy Kerzner was

brought up in West Orange, majored in business at American University,

Class of 1976, and was an industrial broker. He has one brother, a

marketing MBA, and is married to a preschool teacher; they have two

school-age children.

"We were the first developers in Cranbury," says Kerzner.

"Eight-A Corporate center is a 63-acre park, and we just finished

our fifth building. We could do three or four more buildings. Our

smallest tenant is 6,800 square feet, and our largest is 54,000."

The architects were Schroeder Perez in East Windsor.

Center, Cranbury 08512. Sandy Kerzner, partner. 609-655-3100; fax,

609-655-4801. Home page: www.kerznerassociates.com.

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Engineering Moves

When Lockheed Martin announced it would move out of

East Windsor, many hands were wrung. Now the aerospace company’s

former

site is on the upswing. It has a new address, 50 Millstone Road, and

is named Windsor Corporate Park.

One of its most recent tenants is Bala Consulting Engineers, which

has expanded from Clarksville Road to Windsor Corporate Park. This

is a second office for the firm based in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania,

and it focuses on research and development laboratories and

manufacturing

process facilities. Michael Anastasio is the president, CEO, and

founder.

One of its important clients is Merrill Lynch, and Joseph Russo was

the project manager for Merrill Lynch’s corporate campus. Gregory

DeMarco manages work for EMCORE in Somerset and Organan Inc., in West

Orange.

Windsor

Corporate Park, Building 300, Suite 100, Cranbury 08512-. Gregory

J. DeMarco PE, executive vice president. 609-490-8950; fax,

609-490-8955.

Home page: www.bala.com.

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Joint Venture

River Road, Suite 18, Jamesburg 08831-9725. C. Robert Lonshein, senior

vice president. 732-521-1400; fax, 732-521-5879.

The corporate real estate broker and developer has formed a joint

venture with Binswanger CBB to provide commercial and industrial real

estate brokerage, consulting, and development services. Klatzkin will

keep its Teterboro headquarters and also have an office in Edison.

Charles Klatskin will be chairman and CEO; Anthony Scaro, COO; and

David Knee, executive vice president. Two former Weichert Commercial

real estate agents, Joel Lubin and Charles Fern, will manage the

Edison

office. The two offices currently have a total of 20 employees.

Based in Philadelphia and founded in 1931, Binswanger CBB has 5,200

employees worldwide and 160 offices. Binswanger/Klatskin belongs to

Chesterton Blumenauer Binswanger, and international full-service real

estate organization.

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Expansions

The $62 million hospital is the first free-standing children’s

hospital

in the state. With 160,000 square feet and 70 private rooms —

in which parents can sleep overnight — its pediatric services

include a special intensive care unit.

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Management Moves

Skillman 08558. Barbara S. Jones MSW LCSW CADC, executive director.

908-874-5153; fax, 908-874-4733.

Barbara S. Jones is the new executive director of the 23-year-old

non-profit agency. It operates transitional living programs for women

recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. A licensed social worker and

a certified alcohol and drug counselor, Jones has a master’s degree

and nearly 20 years experience in social services.

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Down-Sizing

08540. Craig Muhlhauser, president and COO. 609-919-0817; fax,

609-919-4988.

Home page: www.exideworld.com.

Exide Technologies, a battery manufacturer with offices in Carnegie

Center, continues its ongoing downsizing in the wake of its

acquisition

of GNB Technologies. Five hundred employees will be affected as the

company closes plants in Burlington, Iowa and Dunmore, Pennsylvania.

The company previously announced the closings of two other plants.

The combined reduction in its manufacturing operations reduces Exide’s

automotive battery capacity in the United States by 20 percent. Cost

saving measures are also being undertaken in the company’s European

transportation business. They include a reorganization in the United

Kingdom, and layoffs in Germany. Staffing at the Carnegie Center is

expected to remain unchanged.

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Start-ups

08648.

Ruth Markoe and Hinda R. Haskell, co-directors. 609-895-9661; Home

page: www.clearlyspeaking.net.

Hinda Haskell and Ruth Markoe have opened a consulting firm to provide

speech and communications improvement for corporations and healthcare

institutions. "We’ll concentrate on foreign accent reduction,

helping people with voice quality and pronunciation, and cross

cultural

communication in the workplace," says Haskell.

Each is a speech and language pathologist with more than 20 years

experience. Haskell went to University of Hartford and New York

University

and is based in Villanova; Markoe went to City University of New York

and the University of Wisconsin and is also the producer of R&R

Productions

and Theater to Go. Their clientele includes, not just with foreign

nationals in corporations but also physicians. "Their accents

can impact productivity, communication, and safety," says Haskell.

Haskell’s advice on what to say if communications break down. The

English speaking person can say, "I know this is a second language

for you, but I am having trouble understanding you. Can you please

repeat it more slowly."

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Deaths

manager at Dow Jones & Company on Route 1 North.

Corrections or additions?

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