The building is planned for the remaining undeveloped parcels within SJP's Mountain View Corporate Center, according to Pozycki. A timetable for the project isn't being released yet. The cost of the project is similarly not being released.

The project announcement comes at a time when only a handful of spec office projects are under way in the Garden State. Indeed, some of the larger market's highest vacancy rates are being recorded in this region, particularly a little further down Interstate 287 in southern Somerset County. Q4 statistics released in recent weeks by several real estate firms put the southern Somerset vacancy rate in the 35% range.

"We are confident that SJP Properties' development expertise and track record throughout the region, as well as within this submarket will result in a successful venture," Ben Gifford, managing director of JPMorgan Asset Management, tells GlobeSt.com. SJP has a track record of bringing some very large space users into this market. Just over a year ago, for example, the company signed one of the state's largest office leases ever, getting Citigroup to commit to 830,000 sf at the Warren Corporate Center in nearby Warren Township. When completed, the building will house Citigroup's new corporate operations and technology group, as well as its CitiTech Services division. A total of 3,000 employees are involved in the move.

A source who did not want to be identified also tells GlobeSt.com that, "it may not be long before there's a major tenant announcement for this project. It's happened before." Indeed, several years ago SJP announced plans for a major new office complex on spec on the Hoboken waterfront, and within weeks announced that it had signed publisher John Wiley & Sons to occupy most of that building.

The site of the new spec building here is at a four-way interchange off Exit 33 of I-78. Corporate neighbors besides Citigroup include Lucent, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, Chubb and Verizon.

Instant Insights /

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: SJP Plans 344,000-SF Office Building

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