Hartz Sells One Harmon Plaza

Cushman & Wakefield's metropolitan area capital markets group represented the seller, the locally based Hartz Mountain Industries Inc., and brought the buyers to the table. For C&W, Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel and Jose Cruz headed the assignment. The various parties involved declined to disclose the sale price, but an industry source with knowledge of the transaction tells GlobeSt.com that the number "is in the mid-20s."

"Over the last several years, we have re-balanced our portfolio to diversify into other regions and into other asset classes," Emmanuel Stern, president and COO of Hartz, tells GlobeSt.com. "The sale of One Harmon Plaza allows us to take advantage of today's very rewarding valuations and provides us with the opportunity to make other investments."

According to Merin, the offering's upside potential generated "a heated, three-round bidding process. One Harmon Plaza is currently 63% leased to 22 tenants, with recent rollover accounting for the majority of the available space in the building. Prism and New Boston will benefit significantly from strengthening regional rental rates as they lease up space.

"The Meadowlands market has seen a resurgence of tenant and investor interest over the past several quarters, especially for class A space," Merin says. "The Meadowlands' accessibility has historically made it one of New Jersey's most desirable office submarkets, and ongoing development of residential, hotel and mixed-use projects in the area are proceeding. One Harmon Plaza is well-positioned."

Located adjacent to Route 3 near Exit 16E of the New Jersey Turnpike, One Harmon Plaza is situated on 1.7 acres set back from Meadowlands Parkway. The building is also adjacent to the 305-key Crown Plaza Hotel and Exhibition Center.

Prism Capital Partners is an Englewood-based firm founded in 2002 by former Gale & Wentworth chief investment officer Eugene Diaz and co-headed by Edwin Cohen, and New Boston Fund is a Boston-based group. This is the second deal the companies have done recently: As reported by GlobeSt.com, the two companies teamed up in November to buy 1655 Valley Rd., a 160,000-sf office building in Wayne, from Kushner Properties.