The transaction was arranged by Andrew Merin, executive vice president, and Gary Gabriel, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey's Metropolitan Area Financial Services Group (FSG), based in East Rutherford, NJ, which represented the seller and secured the buyer. The property is located on Route 17 in Northern New Jersey's Bergen County.

"TA Associates acquired the property back in the early 1990s and has maintained it as one of the premier flex parks in the market," according to Merin, who also notes that one challenge the new owner will face immediately is the pending give-back of 100,000 sf by orthopedic reconstructive products maker Howmedica Osteonics, Allendale Park's largest user. Howmedica has its headquarters at Allendale and other facilities in nearby Rutherford and Mahwah.

"But the long-term stability of the asset, its flexibility to accommodate a host of users and its strong position in a competitive market outweighed this potential drawback," according to Merin.

"The investment proved to be ideal for First Industrial, which considers New Jersey as one of its strategic markets," according to Gary Gabriel, senior director of the FSG. "Allendale Park presented a great opportunity for the company to expand its portfolio here. This market, especially in Bergen County, does not present many opportunities to acquire properties of this caliber."

"Allendale Park is in northwest Bergen County, which is a market we have been looking to get into," according to Hayden Tiger, regional director for First Industrial. "We already have properties in northeast Bergen County and in Morris County, so this is a direct complement in our portfolio.

As far as Howmedica, "they occupy roughly 150,000 sf," according to Tiger. "They will be giving back one 60,000-sf building by the end of the third quarter of 2003 and total of 100,000 sf. My understanding is that they will be consolidating their headquarters in Mahwah."

For now, Allendale Park, for which First Industrial has some upgrades planned, is approximately 98% occupied. Besides Howmedica, key tenants include Eastman Kodak, Volkswagen America and DeGussa-Huls.

Founded in 1987 by Merin and David Bernhaut, executive director, the Metropolitan FSG specializes in real estate investment banking in Northern New Jersey; Fairfield County, CT; and New York's Long Island and Westchester County.

For its part, First Industrial currently has a portfolio of almost 70 properties totaling some 4.3 million sf in New Jersey, with about two-thirds of that in the northern half of the state. Nationally, the company's holding total more than 900 properties with almost 62 million sf of space.