Riverwood Park Leases Up First Building

MANSFIELD TWP, NJ-Three tenants, including the state university, have taken all of the 24,000-sf initial building at Riverwood Park, being developed here by the locally-based AZRI, LLC. The new park, described as “upscale” by the developer, is located in Warren County in the northern part of New Jersey.

The largest of the recently signed new tenants is Hearth Services, which took 12,000 sf. The company, which makes gas fireplaces and mantels, was represented in the transaction by Colliers Houston & Co., based in Teaneck, NJ.

Also in the building is Interstate Battery Services, with the Texas-based company taking a total of 9,000 sf of distribution space fronting Route 57. Finally, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has signed on for 3,000 sf of space, which the institution will use as an office/research facility. Terms of the various transactions were not disclosed.

Developer AZRI, which is headed by managing partner Art Robinson, has a total of 40 acres to build out along the Musconetcong River. The current plan is to develop the property in two- to 15-acre sites, with individual buildings ranging from 20,000 to about 100,000 sf. The timeline depends upon tenant commitments.

According to senior vice president Pete Ackerman of the Bernardsville, NJ-based Clancey Realty Group, which is directing the marketing effort for the project, “the park is making terrific progress. Besides the first building being 100% leased, we are having serious talks with prospective occupants of the second building.”

The site is located along the I-80 corridor near both Mt. Olive and Morristown. “The active response we’re getting is not really a surprise to us,” according to Clancey Realty president Frank Clancey. “Our market studies showed that this could be the right property in the right location, at the right price.”

The concept for the property came from Robinson, who describes it as a vehicle “to spur economic growth in the area.” Interestingly, both Robinson and Ackerman serve on the Mansfield Twp. Economic Development Committee.