$181M Takes 1M-SF Office Campus

FLORHAM PARK, NJ-KBS REIT II has added what is considered to be one of New Jersey’s top office campuses, buying the 1.1-million-sf, six-building Park Avenue at Morris County for $180.7 million, or about $161 per sf. The overall sale by owner JP Morgan Chase is actually occurring in two phases.

The first phase of that transaction is done, with the sale of the 100 and 200 Campus Dr. buildings having closed this month. The four buildings accounting for 300 through 600 Campus Dr. will formally be in the portfolio of the San Rafael, CA-based KBS by the end of the year. The six buildings all rise four stories and range in size from the 356,000-sf 100 Campus building to the 101,000-sf 300 and 600 buildings.

The deal was orchestrated on behalf of the seller by Jeffrey Dunne, Kevin Welsh and David Gavin of CB Richard Ellis’ New York Institutional Group, aided by Samuel Buckley of CBRE’s Saddle Brook, NJ office. The quartet also procured the buyer for the property.

“From every conceivable standpoint, this property represented an extraordinary investment opportunity,” says Shannon W. Hill, SVP and director of acquisitions for KBS. “That includes location, quality, prestige and tenancy.”

In terms of that tenancy, Park Avenue is nearly a sell-out, with occupancy listed at the 99.1% level at the time of sale. Among the major firms on its marquee tenant roster are Accenture, BASF, BlackRock, The Hartford Fire Insurance Co., Mapfre Reinsurance, McKinsey & Co., Merrill Lynch, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Quincy Mid Atlantic, Smith Barney, UBS and Wachovia Securities.

“The availability of a trophy asset like this is highly unusual and a one-of-a-kind investment opportunity,” says CBRE’s Dunne. “The buyer recognized the ability to capture substantial near-term upside by renewing existing tenants at market rents as leases roll over. KBS should experience great long-term appreciation.”

The six buildings were developed in succession between 1989 and 1999 for JP Morgan by the Gale Co. Its successor Gale Real Estate Services, a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty Corp., has been managing and leasing the property, but CB Richard Ellis will now take the reins. Availabilities in the 200 and 300 buildings amounting to just more than 10,000 sf are currently listed with an asking price of $36 per sf.