Heidelberg USA Leases 142,915 SF of W/D Space at Exit 8A

CRANBURY, NJ-Central New Jersey’s Turnpike Exit 8A submarket has been reeling in big warehouse/distribution leases all year, and you can add Heidelberg USA to the list of new tenants in what is arguably the country’s hottest industrial market. The company, which makes sheetfed and web offset printing presses and related equipment, has signed a lease for 142,915 sf of space at Adler Development’s 1250 South River Rd. here.

Partners Joshua and Matthew Adler negotiated the long-term lease; Fred Brunswick, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey’s East Rutherford, NJ office represented Heidelberg. The company expects to move its operations in Mt. Olive, NJ to the Cranbury property by the end of this month.

“We looked at some 20 properties during the site search,” Brunswick explains. “Ultimately, the high visibility and size of the facility lent to its appeal. Most of the availabilities in the Exit 8A market involve larger buildings in which Heidelberg would have been a smaller tenant. Here, the company will be the main occupant.”

The speculative facility totals 223,000 sf on 15 acres. Construction, which began last March, is in its final phases. To accommodate Heidelberg, Adler Development did make some changes, including the addition of two oversized loading doors, two heavy-duty dock levelers and two truck locks. Adler also reconfigured the 2,500 sf of office space and increased the floor specs to accommodate heavier loads.

“We saw a steady stream of interest in the facility despite the fact that the 8A submarket has other blocks of available space,” according to Joshua Adler, whose Edison, NJ-based company was founded as Readington Associates in 1961 by Bernie Adler. He points out that the facility’s remaining 80,000 sf is on the market for a single tenant needing warehouse/distribution or light assembly space.

“While the remaining space’s main features are already in place, including heating and sprinkler systems and loading facilities,” adds Matthew Adler, “we are prepared to quickly finish the space to meet a tenant’s specific requirements, as we did with Heidelberg.”

Based in Atlanta, Heidelberg USA is part of the German-based Heidelberg Group, which has 26,000 employees around the world. Besides printing presses, the company makes prepress units and binding equipment. It also makes black-and-white digital printing presses and high-performance copiers, and is currently in a joint venture with Eastman Kodak for NexPress digital color printers.