M. Tucker was represented in the negotiations by Jeffrey Miller of SBWE Inc., Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. Under the terms of its lease, M. Tucker also secured an option to buy the building, a 245,658-sf industrial facility that includes 11,000 sf of class A office space.

The transaction actually started out differently for both the locally-based Par Realty and for M. Tucker, which currently occupies a 120,000-sf facility in Harrison, NJ. "Our assignment was originally an investment deal, a sale/leaseback," Donnelly explains. "The owner was to sell the property and retain its offices within the facility by leasing back the space for 10 years.

"This strategy was very attractive, as there was an income stream in place from a tenant leasing 100,000 sf within the facility, and from the 400-car parking available for lease on the roof," Donnelly continues. "This added greatly to the value of the asset."

But because of a change in the owner's real estate objectives, the marketing effort was redirected to one of leasing the property.

"We originally marketed the property to REITs and individual investors, and within weeks we had 10 bona fide sale offers," Wolf adds. "In fact, a bidding war was underway.

"After Par Realty reviewed all of the offers, they decided that leasing its space instead of a sale would be most beneficial to the company," he continues. "As a result, we were able to secure a very strong credit tenant in a challenging economic climate."

M. Tucker's new home is located just off I-80 in North Jersey. The facility is also adjacent to an active railyard, according to Donnelly.