They were right. Now, just six months later, Hines has officially inked Aventis Pharmaceuticals, the US arm of Frankfurt, Germany-based Aventis Pharma AG, to 400,000 sf of space. Aventis is the company that emerged from the merger of Hoechst AG and Rhone-Poulenc. Its focus is on such areas as cardiology, oncology, anti-infectives, arthritis, allergies, respiratory, diabetes and the central nervous system.

The deal, for which terms were not disclosed, involves all of the just-under-construction, 300,000-sf Bridgewater Crossing I, and three floors of the similarly-sized Bridgewater Crossing II. The Staubach Co.'s New Jersey office represented Aventis in the deal.

The move will give the company some room to grow--the location will consolidate certain global business functions housed at several New Jersey locations. A nearby site serves as Aventis' global drug development center and US innovation and drug approval facilities. The company's North American commercial operations headquarters, temporarily located in Parsippany, will begin moving to a newly constructed permanent site in Bridgewater by the end of February.

"After taking a look at our office space in New Jersey, we decided that our needs will be much greater within the next few years," explains Gerald P. Belle, president of Aventis North America. "The Bridgewater Crossing location will allow us to combine certain functions to improve cross-functional work and create a more cohesive environment."

The first of the two buildings will be ready for move in by the middle of next year, according to Hines project manager Mike Pride. Construction of the second building at Bridgewater Crossing will start shortly thereafter. The site is adjacent to the million-sf Bridgewater Commons Mall and the 350-room, under-construction Bridgewater Marriott Hotel.

"This a great project for us with Aventis as the lead tenant," according to Pride.

For Hines, the project greatly expands its NJ presence, joining development of the Bristol-Myers Squibb headquarters near Princeton and 2 Montgomery St. and the Goldman Sachs campus in Jersey City as its major holdings here. The company also has projects in Stamford, CT and Queens, NY, and is development manager of new office towers for Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley in Manhattan.