HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — American Real Estate Partners (AREP) and Independencia Asset Management have sold 1100-1200 American Boulevard in Hopewell Township, approximately 10 miles west of Princeton, for $95 million.
Originally built in 2000 as part of the Merrill Lynch corporate campus, the property consists of three Class A office buildings totaling 380,417 square feet. It is currently fully leased to Merrill Lynch, which Bank of America acquired in 2008.
AREP purchased the property in 2013. Under terms of the new agreement, AREP will continue to lease and manage the asset. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction. A New York City-based real estate investment firm was the buyer.
“The deal offered positive cash flow from an investment-grade tenant for several years; desirable real estate centrally located between New York City and Philadelphia; and an opportunity to ensure management continuity by leveraging AREP’s operating platform,” says David Bernhaut, executive vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets group.
The Princeton/Route 1 Corridor has been one of New Jersey’s top submarkets for nearly two decades, according to AREP. Since 2004, the area has experienced a 20 percent increase in Class A asking rents.
Headquartered in metro Washington, D.C., AREP is an institutional fund manager and operating partner focused on office and mixed-use repositioning and development. Since its founding in 2003, the company has deployed more than $4 billion and acquired more than 17 million square feet of Class A real estate.
Independencia Asset Management is a real estate asset management firm headquartered in Miami with an additional office in Boston. It has invested in more than 18 million square feet of office, retail and industrial assets in 19 states with various local operating partners.
— Kristin Hiller