Mack-Cali Sells NJ Office Portfolio for $84M

RED BANK, NJ – Mack-Cali Realty Corp. has sold a 639,490-square-foot, class A office portfolio in Red Bank, NJ for $84 million. First Mile Properties, the suburban affiliate of Crown Acquisitions, purchased the portfolio.

The sale aligns with Mack-Cali’s suburban office sales strategy. The River Centre portfolio represents Mack-Cali’s last suburban office portfolio.

Mack-Cali will utilize the proceeds of the sale to repay its term loan.

The River Centre office complex comprises six buildings that currently 66% leased. One of the portfolio’s properties was recently renovated to serve as dedicated amenity space, featuring a state-of-the-art fitness center, a tenant lounge, a café and an outdoor area.

“The sale of River Centre marks another important milestone and takes us one step closer to successfully completing the disposition of our suburban office portfolio,” states Mahbod Nia, CEO of Mack-Cali. “We remain focused on concluding the remaining asset sales to meet our objectives of streamlining the business, strengthening our balance sheet and creating value for our shareholders.”

“The disposition of the Red Bank portfolio is further evidence of our team’s hard work and dedication to our suburban office sales strategy following our strong sales of Short Hills and Metropark, respectively,” added Ricardo Cardoso, EVP and chief investment officer at Mack-Cali. “We are thrilled to build upon the positive momentum of our recent dispositions and complete our exit from the suburban office market in the near-term.”

Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets team, led by Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso and Seth Zuidema, arranged the transaction.  The team additionally worked alongside local leasing experts Kevin Carton and Todd Elfand to complete the transaction.

Cushman & Wakefield’s equity, debt & structured finance team, comprising John Alascio, Alex Hernandez, Chuck Kohaut and TJ Sullivan, arranged the acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer.

“Our team previously sold nearly 40% of the River Centre properties to Mack-Cali, who did a fantastic job in updating select common areas throughout the portfolio, in addition to creating a fully-dedicated amenity building to serve the campus,” says Merin. “River Centre represents nearly half of all of the office inventory with a Red Bank address and future ownership has the opportunity to control a majority of the local market and continue to reposition the portfolio via additional capital investments and leasing strategies.”