Office Complex Trades for $43M

"These buildings provide us with a terrific opportunity," says Robert Watman, senior vice president of the New York-based Sterling American, who represented his firm in the acquisition. "We plan to utilize all of our resources to help bring out the full potential of these assets."

"Sterling has acquired buildings that provide strong in-place cash flow," says Jeffrey Dunne, who teamed with CB Richard Ellis New York Tri-State Investment Team colleagues Kevin Welsh and Jeffrey Oram, along with Donald Sperling of CBRE's Saddle Brook, NJ office, to orchestrate the deal for the seller. "The buildings also provide future upside potential from lease-up of vacant space."

At the time of the sale, the two building were nearly 85% leased, leaving some 40,000 sf available. The five largest current tenants on-site are ADT Security (40,877 sf), North Fork Bank (34,267 sf), JP Morgan Chase (24,282 sf) and Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter (18,648 sf).

The larger of the two companion buildings making up Fairfield Corporate Center is 695 Route 46, which totals 157,394 sf of rentable space. Built in 1990, it was acquired by the COPT affiliate in 1998. The 101,263-sf 710 Route 46, meanwhile, was constructed in 1986 and acquired by COPT in 1998. A lobby renovation on the latter building was completed in 2001.

Sterling American, headed by the Wilpon family, owners of the New York Mets, represents real estate investment funds formed and operated by affiliates of Sterling Equities and American Securities Capital Partners. The firm recently launched its fifth fund, Sterling American Property V. SAP V, a discretionary fund in excess of $450 million that will invest in all forms of real estate with an emphasis on office and multifamily.