Savills has represented pharma giant Eisai Inc. in New Jersey’s largest office lease of 2020.
The global pharmaceutical company signed a long-term 332,818 s/f lease to relocate its North American headquarters from Woodcliff Lake to Prism Capital Partners’ ON3, New Jersey’s largest redevelopment project at 116 acres.
Eisai will be housed across the entirety of the former Hoffmann-La Roche HQ building, recently renovated by Prism, which is located at 200 Metro Boulevard in Nutley, within the campus grounds.
The company plans to move up to 1,200 employees to the LEED Gold building in late 2021. At 15 stories, 200 Metro Boulevard is the tallest commercial office building in Northern New Jersey, outside of the Jersey City waterfront and Downtown Newark.
“Eisai is very pleased to be working with Savills to secure and design our company’s workplace, said Tatsuyuki Yasuno, President of Eisai Inc. “This property will bring all of our employees together to continue our human health care mission and to drive the growth of this innovative company.”
Eisai was represented in negotiations by Savills Gregg Najarian, Daniel Foley, Chip Conklin and Nathan Brzozowski; Andrea Borrelli, a workplace strategist and project management specialist at Savills, will advise on Eisai’s buildout.
Additionally, Savills was instrumental in assisting Eisai in the procurement process for engineering, architecture and construction management firms.
The Cushman & Wakefield team of Robert Rudin, Josh Cohen and Bill Brown serves as exclusive leasing agent for 200 Metro Boulevard, representing Prism Capital Partners.
“Our 22-year relationship with Eisai and now second headquarters relocation with them, gave us a keen understanding of their strategic business objectives. Identifying a site proximate to a strong talent base that offered an ecosystem comprised of other pharmaceutical and life sciences companies within a walkable campus was the ultimate goal,” said Najarian, an executive vice president at Savills.
“ON3’s cutting-edge environment was extremely attractive for the company. There is ample opportunity for on-campus expansion, seamless access to New York City via multiple transportation options, brand visibility via top-of-building signage and a host of amenities for employees simply not achievable in a true suburban location.”
ON3, located within the towns of Nutley and Clifton, was previously home to Hoffmann-La Roche’s North American headquarters campus. In 2016, the site was purchased by Prism Capital Partners. Led by owners Eugene Diaz and Edwin Cohen, the firm commenced a repositioning campaign to transform the campus into a multi-tenant, mixed-use lifestyle hub that will ultimately include office, retail, fitness, entertainment, residential and lodging.
“Eisai brings exceptional scientific and business expertise to this ever-expanding center for New Jersey and global business in a lease that has brought the Campus to full occupancy,” Cohen noted.
The campus is currently home to The Ralph Lauren Corporation, which was represented by Savills in its 255,000 s/f lease, as well as the Hackensack-Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, and Seton Hall University’s Graduate College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences. Other tenants include Modern Meadow and the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation, and Quest Diagnostics, who constructed a 250,000 s/f diagnostic testing laboratory facility.
“ON3 is successful primarily because the NJ brokerage community gets it,” Diaz said. “The world changed, and smart companies like Savills have helped their clients see how they will benefit from being in a vibrant mixed-use development, closer to larger, younger labor pools and a variety of housing options and walkable amenities.”