PLAINSBORO, NJ (May 29, 2013) – LCOR and Ivy Equities, in a joint partnership with Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation, have announced the official opening of Novo Nordisk’s U.S. Headquarters, in Plainsboro, NJ. Employees have begun moving into the U.S. headquarters for the Danish pharmaceutical company this month.
The Novo Nordisk Headquarters, located at 800 Scudders Mill Road, is an example of adaptive re-use within New Jersey’s office redevelopment market, incorporating 95 percent of recycled material from the previous facility.
Ivy Equities, LCOR and Intercontinental carried out the build-to-suit gut-renovation project that has brought economic growth to the state.
“It was a privilege having the opportunity to work with Ivy Equities and Intercontinental on Novo Nordisk’s headquarters,” said Kurt Eichler, Executive Vice President of LCOR. “This redevelopment project provided the opportunity for LCOR, Ivy and Intercontinental to help lead in the revitalization of New Jersey’s suburban office market and set a precedent for future redevelopment projects that will continue to promote overall economic growth in the state of New Jersey.”
“The adaptive reuse of this world class corporate campus has set a standard for how corporations can obtain modern office space in an economical and ecologically sensitive manner,” said Anthony DiTommaso, Jr., co-CEO of Ivy Equities.
In August 2011 Novo Nordisk and the joint venture lead by Ivy Equities and LCOR partnered with Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation, which provided the equity funding for the project, announced their plans to redevelop the existing office building, which was previously home to Merrill Lynch. Novo Nordisk signed a long-term lease for the entire building, with the initial phase of occupancy being approximately 563,000 s/f and the option to take the balance of the space within the building at any time.
After an extensive search, the Northeast Council of Carpenters (NRCC) retained Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation to advise the union’s pension investments in a strategic program that would benefit the state of New Jersey in a substantial local construction project.
“We are honored to invest on behalf of the New Jersey building trades in a project like this that creates fair wage and benefit jobs, yes, but more importantly also drives excellent returns for their pension funds,” says Intercontinental CEO, Peter Palandjian.
In addition to NRCC’s lead investment of $75 million, the New Jersey Laborers Statewide Pension Fund, the IUOE Local 825 Pension Fund and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 5 Pension Fund were also participating investors, for a combined total of approximately $130 million.
A $215 million redevelopment project to completely renovate and upgrade the office building for Novo Nordisk, this deal represented one of the New Jersey’s largest commercial real estate transactions.
Ivy Equities and LCOR executed a top-to-bottom, gut rehabilitation of the 770,000 s/f office building in the Princeton Forrestal Center. The teams’ redevelopment efforts stripped the vintage 1985 building to its skeletal frame, replacing the building’s façade, roof and interior. The renovated property also features state-of-the-art electrical and mechanical systems. LCOR and Ivy Equities successfully attained Silver LEED certification for the building from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The building’s construction created approximately 500 union construction jobs for the state of New Jersey.