Investcorp Buys 377,000-SF Office Building

Investcorp officials would only describe the seller as "an undisclosed institutional investor." However, it is known that the building was acquired by Gale & Wentworth, now the Gale Co., in late 2001 as a largely vacant building and subsequently leased to Cendant. Gale reportedly sold it a year later.

The price tag for the building was similarly not disclosed. However, sources familiar with current investment sales activity in the region for class A office product estimate that the building likely traded for a number in the vicinity of $75 million, or about $200 per sf.

"The acquisition of One Campus Dr. is consistent with Investcorp's strategy of investing in well-located assets leased to high-quality tenants," according to Herb Myers, a principal with Investcorp's real estate group, in a written statement.

The building, which sits on a 41-acre site with parking for more than 1,200 cars, is situated within the Mack-Cali Business Campus, one of the region's prime corporate parks. Its amenities include a fitness center and a full-service cafeteria.

One Campus Dr. was built in 1979 and completely renovated in 1996. Mack-Cali still owns much of the adjoining building stock within the business park the bears its name.

The acquisition is Investcorp's sixth real estate investment this year, according to Myers, and brings the firm's total 2004 real estate investments to approximately $400 million. It marks its first pick-up in 2004 in New Jersey, where it recently cut a major asset loose. In June, Investcorp and partner Lincoln Equities Group sold the 385,000-sf, two-building 180 Park Ave. in Florham Park, NJ to Wells REIT, just two years after buying the AT&T-occupied asset. That trade was similarly said to be in the $75 million range.