The class A campus-style office complex, comprised of two, eight-story buildings, was completed just last year by Hines. Aventis Pharmaceuticals occupies 420,000 sf on a long-term basis as its North American headquarters, and the remaining 180,000 sf is currently available. Kevin Haggarty, Woody Heller, Lynn Demarco and Sam Buckley of Insignia/ESG's Capital Advisors Group represented the seller. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

However, CDC Mortgage Capital Inc. of New York has simultaneously announced that is has provided $116 million in floating-rate financing to the buyer to complete the acquisition. "The financing, which covered approximately 76% of the total acquisition cost, also includes a $7 million facility for payment of costs associated with the leasing of the currently available space," according to a spokesperson for CDC, which is the US real estate financing unit of CDC IXIS of Paris, France.

That 76% loan-to-value figure would put the purchase price at approximately $153 million, and other industry sources have placed the sale price at anywhere from $140 million to $155 million. Neither the buyer nor seller would confirm those numbers, which if true would amount to something in the range of $250 per sf.

Bridgewater Crossing, which has two parking garages and a helipad, was initially financed by the Hines US Office Development Fund, a vehicle with $427 million of equity to develop suburban office buildings. The asset is a focal point of the Bridgewater Regional Center Plan, a development area that also includes The Rouse Co.'s Bridgewater Commons, a super-regional shopping mall, plus a 350-room Marriott Hotel and several other retail and office properties, all of which are located at the confluence of I-287 and Routes 22 and 202-206 in Somerset County.

"We are proud to have created this wonderful development over the past few years, and of the relationships that we have built with the New Jersey real estate corporate communities during that time," says Hines vice president Jeff Spiritos. "Our organization will stay active in New Jersey, and we expect to produce other successful projects in coming years."

The Houston-based Hines, which has its eastern regional offices in New York City, entered the Garden State in 1990 with its development of the Bristol-Myers Squibb headquarters near Princeton. Since then, the firm has acquired 2 Montgomery Street in Jersey City and has managed the development of several properties in the New York metro area.

Instant Insights /

Hines Sells 600,000-SF Office Complex

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