FAIRFIELD, NJ-Middle Atlantic Products Inc. has leased the entire 418,000-sf industrial building at 300 Fairfield Rd. here, a property that has been extensively redeveloped by Commercial Realty Group, a Morris Plains-based firm.
The tenant, a maker of systems integration technologies, including enclosure systems, for a variety of AV, broadcast, security and structured cabling users, is relocating its headquarters, production and warehousing operations here from Riverdale. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
Middle Atlantic Products' new location is a $40-million redevelopment of a former Curtiss-Wright manufacturing site at a four-way interchange with Route 46 here. The largely new structure nearly matches the footprint of the original plant, built in 1940. The redevelopment involved demolishing the original manufacturing plant, leaving in place a two-story office structure, warehouse foundations and floors.
"You can really appreciate the magnitude of this project when you consider that the single-story portion could house 12 football fields," says Andy Billing, a principal in CRG who heads the firm with fellow principals Jim Jones and Harry Seidman. "We feel that we've turned an eyesore into an attractive ratable for Fairfield."
The existing 40,000-sf office building's brick face was retained and restored, with the addition of new glazing. The new single-story warehouse structure has 28-foot clear ceilings, 31 loading docks and three drive-ins. March Associates of Wayne was the general contractor for the project, MJS Architects of Dover designed it and Schoor DePalma of Manalapan provided civil engineering services.
The original Curtiss-Wright plant produced aircraft parts in World War II, including propellers for the B-29 Super Fortress bomber. Following a number of other uses, it was closed completely in 1998. Going forward, CRG plans to add three new flex buildings totaling 175,000 sf on the 39.5-acre site.
For Middle Atlantic Products, the move also means a consolidation and expansion of several New Jersey manufacturing and inventory sites. Founded in a small garage in Haskell in 1979 by its president, Robert Schluter, the company also has facilities in California, Illinois and Canada.
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