Thor Equities has acquired another life sciences property in
New Jersey.
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) brokered the sale of 7 Powder
Horn Drive in Warren, on behalf of the joint venture partnership between Ivy
Realty and Waterfall Asset Management.
Executive managing director Kevin Welsh, managing director
Brian Schulz, and associate Jason Emrani of NKF’s Capital Markets group
represented the seller. Executive managing director Steven Schultz and director
Dan Reider also provided support on the deal.
The team also procured the purchaser, NKF’s Debt and
Structured Finance team secured acquisition financing for the $27 million purchase.
7 Powder Horn is a 181,210 s/f specialized life sciences
facility that is fully leased to Celgene/Bristol-Meyers Squibb (BMS) and serves
as a Clinical Center of Excellence. Celgene’s has been a tenant of the property
for 32+ years at 7 Powder Horn, expanding in 2019 to accommodate its growth.
The seller recently completed a capital improvement program
that included a new roof, site work and HVAC upgrades.
“We are very proud to close our third major life science
deal in New Jersey in the past two years. We are especially excited to acquire
a first-class biological commercialization/production facility occupied by the
likes of Celgene/Bristol Meyers Squibb,” said Jonathan Scheinberg and Bill
Hunter, co-heads of Thor’s life science platform.
In April, Thor acquired the former Liberty Innovation Center
at 95 Greene Street in jersey City from SJP Properties for $94 million as part
of an expansion of the company’s dedicated life sciences platform, Thor
Sciences.
It also paid $152 million for The Center of Excellence, a
784,000 s/f campus that spans 48 acres in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The company
also has life science assets in Berkeley and Boston.
According to NKF Research, 7 Powder Horn is part of 8.8 million square feet of specialized life facilities throughout Northern and Central New Jersey. Vacancy for this asset class is 15.3 percent, which reflects a 10% decline over the past five years. Employment in the life sciences industry in New Jersey increased by 6.9 percent to 80,376 over the past two years.
“Being situated in New Jersey’s most concentrated life
sciences hub, along with the Property’s specialized infrastructure, attracted
investors to this rare opportunity,” said Kevin Welsh.
“Investor demand for life sciences facilities has
substantially increased in the real estate market during the pandemic. 7 Powder
Horn ideally supplements Thor’s growing life sciences portfolio.”
