Atlantic Health was represented by Geoffrey Schubert, senior vice president, and Daniel F. Casey, first vice president of CB Richard Ellis in Saddle Brook, along with Thomas Welsh, principal of the locally based Welsh Chester Galiney & Matone Inc. "If you look at the state of New Jersey, you see the healthcare industry continuing to expand," Schubert tells GlobeSt.com. "The industry is acting as one of the primary drivers in the marketplace."

The owner, New York-based Lawrence Zirinsky Associates, was represented by Tom Stange, leasing executive of the Princeton-based National Business Parks, Zirinsky's management arm. Terms of the signing were not disclosed.

In the expansion move across town, Atlantic Health will use the space for its executive offices and related administrative functions currently housed at 100 Madison Ave., adjacent to Morristown Memorial Hospital, according to company officials. Southgate I has parking for more than 850 cars, and the lack of parking had been an issue at the existing headquarters location at Morristown Memorial.

Southgate I is part of the three-building, 720,000-sf Southgate Corporate Office Center that includes the 190,000-sf 435 South St. (Southgate II), the 320,000-sf 445 South St. (Southgate III) and 48 acres available for future development. As reported by GlobeSt.com, Zirinsky bought out the interests in the property of partner Anders Billing just over a year ago to become sole owner.

At the time of the transaction, Southgate I was occupied by Lucent Technologies, which had inherited the location in 1996 from predecessor AT&T Network Systems. Lucent's lease ran out at the end of 2004 and earlier this year, after Lucent's departure, Zirinsky and National Business Parks launched a major renovation of the building. Atlantic Health officials say they expect to move into the new location early next year.

In the meantime, Atlantic Health is moving ahead with a 250,000-sf expansion that will include a 1,170-car parking garage at Morristown Memorial. "Leasing the South Street site has provided a solution to the parking situation by moving employee parking off-site, and will ease the parking burden in the neighborhood surrounding the hospital," says an Atlantic Health spokesman.