Turnbridge Equities and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management have acquired the former Ballantine Brewery property, a five building, 1.1 million square foot, 22-acre last mile industrial portfolio located at 400 Ferry Street, in Newark, New Jersey, for $61 million.

The property comprises five buildings on six separate sites, totaling over 1.1 million square feet of industrial warehouse space. It is 85 percent leased to multiple tenants, most of which serve the Port of Newark and the 17.8 million people located within an hour’s drive.

The property consists of 22 acres at the intersection of I-95, US Highway 1, and I-280, less than three miles from the Port of Newark and nine miles from Manhattan. It is located in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, which has seen an explosion of mixed-use growth in recent years.

And it is located in an Opportunity Zone, a new federal program that was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and provides tax incentives for investments in new businesses and commercial projects in low-income communities.

Turnbridge and J.P. Morgan Asset Management plan an extensive, multi-million-dollar renovation and repositioning of multiple buildings as well as potential ground up development opportunities on other portions of the property.

“We’re incredibly excited to invest in Newark and be a part of this growing neighborhood from which this property serves over 17 million people within a one hour’s drive,” commented Ryan Nelson, Managing Principal of Turnbridge Equities.

“We look forward to repositioning this property and bringing it to its full potential. We’re excited to partner with such an esteemed group in J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and we view this as a long-term investment for both us.”

“We continue to be big believers in the last mile industrial sector in the New York/New Jersey submarket. We’ve now grown our last mile portfolio to nearly three million square feet and feel that this property, and its close proximity to the Port of Newark, will help us capitalize on the surging growth of e-commerce and just in time delivery amid shrinking supply of space to accommodate those users,” remarked Nelson.

“The Ballantine properties represent a rare opportunity to acquire a portfolio of infill industrial sites and team up with Turnbridge Equities, a partner that has a demonstrated track record in repositioning these types of assets,” said Peter Sibilia, Co-Head of the Northeast Region, J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Real Estate Americas.

Turnbridge Equities and J.P. Morgan Asset Management acquired the property in an off-market transaction from a private partnership that had owned the property for 40 years. Tom Walsh, Katelyn Borovsky and Joe Garibaldi of JLL represented the seller. The debt financing was provided by CIT Bank.

“The Ballantine Brewery is the largest offering of existing real estate in the Port submarket, New Jersey’s most vital industrial and manufacturing market,” said Walsh. “This was a terrific value-add opportunity for Turnbridge and JPMorgan to thoroughly renovate and reposition the property for use by multiple tenants. There are not many opportunities remaining in the Port submarket for small to midsize industrial tenants to find well-located and modern industrial space.”

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)