The Chatham, New Jersey-based WP is decidedly in a buying mood. Latest and largest acquisition in the organization's young life is the former Olivetti building here, a 237,000-sf class C office/warehouse property set on nearly 48 acres in Route 202. WP has big plans for the facility: it will be expanded to nearly 340,000 sf and transformed into a class A property.

WP is carrying on Wellsford's track record of taking class B and C buildings and adding substantial value. "We will model the repositioning of this building on the repositioning of Morris Technology Center in Parsippany [NJ]," according to Mark Schaevitz, COO for WP in metro New Jersey. "The renovation will include a new façade, roof, building systems and parking. It will be designed to offer flexible floor plates." He also points out that while the goal is to turn it into a class A office building, the site's zoning also allows R&D/lab uses, and well as warehousing.

Operating in the metro New Jersey, Boston and Washington, DC has a corporate focus of "converting obsolete buildings into class A space," says Schaevitz. "Because we're working with an existing building and have lower costs going in, in most cases we have been able to bring the redeveloped class A space on the markets at rents below comparable new space in the market."

This latest space being repositioned by WP will come in a market with single-digit vacancies and limited options, especially for those looking for large blocks of space. The property is located in the I-287/78 market, which has recently seen several major space users go into the ground with brand-new projects because there hasn't been enough space available to accommodate their growth. Corporate neighbors to the WP property include Aventis Pharmaceuticals, AT&T, Hoffman LaRoche, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, MetLife and Pharmacia.