90 Woodbridge Center Drive, Woodbridge NJ

Office
Written By Andrew Smock

90 Woodbridge Center Drive
Woodbridge, NJ

Assignment

NAI DiLeo-Bram & Co. (NAIDB)’s Executive Vice President Robert Dinner represents    Atlantic Realty Development Corp, owner of 90 Woodbridge Center Drive in Woodbridge, NJ, and markets available office space at the Class-A office tower as the exclusive leasing agent. While the property has always been a prominent building in the marketplace, in 2020 – just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – 90 Woodbridge Center Drive had a 15% vacancy rate and was undergoing a repositioning marketing campaign with an emphasis on tenant retention.

The asset, which features 10 office floors totaling 245,000SF, has an average floor size of 26,000SF. In addition, 90 Woodbridge Center Drive had been the subject of a multi-million-dollar, ownership-focused capital improvement campaign. NAIDB’s assignment was to procure corporate-caliber tenancies for the unoccupied spaces while retaining current occupiers.

Solution

The arrival of COVID-19 and its far-reaching economic consequences, including the second-largest global recession in recent history, had a negative impact on the commercial real estate office sector as a whole. During this period, NAIDB never lost sight of its client’s vision to realize the fullest potential of 90 Woodbridge Center Drive.

At the time, companies were adjusting their strategy to define how a post-COVID workplace would best serve the safety and well-being of their employees and clients. NAIDB played an important role getting in front of these organizations, offering office-space solutions that prioritized their requirements.

NAIDB leveraged the 90 Woodbridge Center Drive office center’s Class A amenities, location at the intersection of US Routes 1 & 9, abundant “front-door” transit options and a new full-service café with a private dining room and outdoor seating terrace. Collectively, these attracted tenant interest throughout the various phases of the pandemic and its recovery period.

Additional on-site features designed to appeal to tenants in the post-pandemic work environment include:

  • 10,000 SF Tenant Event Center for meetings/events/training

  • Computer-monitored energy-efficient HVAC system and controls with air purification ionization technology for eliminating pathogens

  • New elevator cabs and a completely renovated two-story Atrium Lobby featuring a security attendant, new seating areas, revolving entry doors and electronic tenant directory

  • Repaved parking lot with striping and electric charging stations

  • Connectivity for Verizon, Comcast, Optimum and Lightpath

  • High visibility presence from the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike; connectivity to I-287, Route 440 and the Outerbridge Crossing  

  • Corporate business environment surrounding 90 Woodbridge Center Drive with immediate-area major retail centers, including Woodbridge Center Mall and Menlo Park Mall; hotels; banks; day care; and fitness centers 

  • Newark International Airport (20 min.); Metro Park Train Station and Woodbridge Train Station (< 3 mi.); NJ Transit bus stops along Woodbridge Center Drive        


Result

In the post-pandemic economy recovery period, general office property performance and occupancies for New Jersey stabilized at a 20+% vacancy-rate benchmark. In contrast, 90 Woodbridge Center Drive has achieved a near-full occupancy level by mid-2023 – up from its pre-pandemic vacancy rate and significantly outpacing the industry standard for New Jersey office market trends.

During the course of a worldwide-pandemic shutdown, NAIDB, with the support of ownership, delivered on its property repositioning and tenant stabilization assignment by:

  • Arranging 8 leases on behalf of ownership, ranging from 1,200 SF to 7,300 SF for a total of 33,000 SF in transactions from 2020 through mid-year 2023

  • Solidifying a top-caliber tenant base with new lease agreements for:

    • Wilentz,Goldman & Spitzer, one of New Jersey's largest and most established law firms that also has signage on the building

    • Several Fortune-500 companies

      • BDO, one of the industry’s largest accounting and professional service firm networks

      • Equitable, serving clients with an array of life insurance and financial products including retirement investment tools

      • Nationwide Insurance, a global leader in finance and professional services that maintains a legal division in the building

      • Amboy Bank, which offers a full service ATM on site and is a New Jersey-focused bank serving consumer and commercial clients with branches throughout Middlesex and Monmouth Counties

  • Negotiating a lease extension in collaboration with ownership for a long-term tenant that decreased its space by 7,000+ SF and identifying a new “replacement” tenant to absorb the balance of space

  • Developing a pipeline of/engaging with tenant prospects interested in current and/or future office-space availabilities

Lastly, NAIDB also signed a long-term lease to relocate its new headquarters to 90 Woodbridge Center Drive. The firm’s occupancy concluded with a comprehensive buildout of its new first-class office space in late 2022 and successfully relocated its brokerage division from its former Piscataway-based office.

 

Andrew Smock https://smockcreative.com/
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