180,000 SF of Leases Fills Industrial Park

PERTH AMBOY, NJ-Matrix Development Group has signed two industrial tenants to a total of 184,000 sf, effectively filling up the company's Perth Amboy Business Park here. The park consists of two buildings totaling 450,000 sf on 26 acres just off Route 440 in this Middlesex County community.

The larger of the two signing is the 134,000 sf taken by Prestige Replacement Windows, a manufacturer of blinds and window treatments. And Sara Max Apparel Group Inc., a New York City-based apparel company, has taken a 50,000-sf space. Gary Green of Resource Realty, Edison represented both tenants. Terms of the signings were not disclosed, but the leases were described as "long term."

Perth Amboy Business Park is the redevelopment of a reclaimed brownfield site once occupied by Chevron's Perth Amboy Asphalt Refinery. Matrix began the $20-million project in early 2004 with the signing of Shalom International, a distributor of fashion accessories and general merchandise, to a commitment of more than 101,000 sf.

"The successful redevelopment and leasing of this project demonstrates, I feel, that New Jersey's urban centers are creating jobs," Alexander B. Taylor, chief operating officer of the Cranbury-based Matrix says of the park, which is situated within this city's urban enterprise zone. "The state's urban centers are creating new investment and longer-term economic vitality. This city is a unique place, and it is leading the way in the state's push for urban revitalization."

Matrix's project is one of several that have turned around this city of 45,000, which is located directly across the Arthur Kill from New York's Staten Island. The city has already seen more than $1 billion of public/private investment flow in as part of a major redevelopment plan. Among the various projects is the Florham Park-based Kushner Cos. Landings at Harborside, a $600-million mixed-use residential/retail project.