ASB and Cohen Asset Management Buy $83M Northern NJ Distribution Center

The joint venture acquired a 570,100 square-foot warehouse in Edison, NJ.

549 Mill Road, Edison, NJ

NEW YORK CITY—ASB Real Estate Investments in a joint venture with Cohen Asset Management acquired a 570,100 square-foot, bulk warehouse distribution facility at 549 Mill Road in Edison, NJ for $83 million. The property is located within the Exit 10/I-287 industrial submarket of northern NJ. ASB made the investment on behalf of its Allegiance Real Estate Fund, a $7.3 billion core vehicle. The seller was JP Morgan Chase Bank, according to Real Capital Analytics.

The property, called Middlesex Logistics Center, is a four-year-old cross-docked industrial facility. It is 100% leased to List Logistics, a national third-party logistics and distribution company. The building features physical characteristics often sought in modern distribution buildings including 36-foot clear heights, 50 x 48-foot column spacing with 60-foot speed bays, 101 loading docks with four drive-in doors, ESFR sprinklers, and parking for 190 cars and 135 trailers.

549 Mill Road, Edison, NJ, industrial property aerial view

The asset is located in one of Northern NJ’s most desirable industrial submarkets with access to one of the nation’s most heavily trafficked highways, according to Brodie Ruland, ASB SVP and northern region head. He says only about 19% of northern NJ product is considered modern inventory. He states that the Exit 10/ Route 287 area is one of the largest submarkets with newer product, second only to an area 15 miles south, near Exit 8A.

“Its more northern location puts Middlesex closer to the majority of the New York metro’s population as well as to the Ports of Elizabeth and Newark,” says Ruland. “This dynamic should position the asset well for strong performance over the long-term, as tenants seek to be as close as possible to population centers.”

Headquartered in Washington, DC, ASB Real Estate Investments is a vision of ASB Capital Management, a real estate investment management firm with $7.8 billion in gross AUM for approximately 340 institutional clients. Cohen Asset Management is a private real estate investment firm headquartered in Southern California. It has a regional office in Northern New Jersey, and has invested in 17 acquisitions in the Northern New Jersey industrial market.