SOMERSET AND WARREN, N.J. — Newmark has negotiated the approximately $100 million sale of a portfolio of light industrial properties totaling 650,000 square feet in Northern New Jersey. An institutional investor acquired 50 & 100 Randolph Road, two assets in Somerset totaling 236,000 square feet that were 91 percent leased at the time of sale. The buyer(s) of the other four properties in Warren were not disclosed. Kevin Welsh, Brian Schulz, Maria Betancourt, Steven Schultz, Dan Reider, Kyle Eaton and Chris Koeck of Newmark represented the seller, a joint venture between Ivy Realty and Waterfall Asset Management, in the deal.
Industrial
BAY SHORE, N.Y. — New York City-based Rockefeller Group is underway on construction of a 172,622-square-foot speculative distribution center in the Long Island community of Bay Shore. The property at 55 Paradise Lane will feature a clear height of 36 feet, 40 dock doors, 270 car parking spaces, 40 trailer parking stalls and 7,317 square feet of mezzanine-level office space. Manhattan-based KSS Architects designed the project, and Aurora Contractors is handling construction. Completion is slated for the first quarter of next year.
AMARILLO, TEXAS — Dallas-based Mycon General Contractors is underway on construction of a 781-unit self-storage facility for U-Haul in Amarillo that will also offer truck and trailer rental services. The four-acre site at 5316 Canyon Drive already houses several U-Haul facilities, and the new three-story building will add 83,000 square feet of net rentable, climate-controlled space and 11,267 square feet of box storage space to the existing complex. Full completion is slated for December. In addition to the construction of the new building, the existing paving, landscaping and onsite ingress/egress points will also be renovated.
PRINCETON, N.J. — U-Haul will open a 750-unit self-storage facility at an 8.8-acre undeveloped site at the intersection of U.S. Highway 380 and Boorman Lane in Princeton. U-Haul acquired the site in July. The four-story facility, which is scheduled to come on line by July 2024, will feature climate-controlled indoor storage space, outdoor drive-up buildings and a separate warehouse for U-Box portable storage containers. U-Haul will also offer truck and trailer rental services at the property and sell moving and packaging supplies as part of a retail operation.
PISCATAWAY AND EWING, N.J. — Atlanta-based developer IDI Logistics has acquired sites totaling 32 acres in Central New Jersey for a pair of industrial redevelopment projects. Both the 14-acre site in Piscataway and the 18-acre property in Ewing currently house office buildings. IDI Logistics plans to demolish the existing structures and replace them with Class A warehouse and distribution facilities. Construction timelines for both projects are still being finalized.
HIALEAH, FLA. — All Florida Paper, a Hispanic-owned paper and sanitation products wholesaler, has signed a full-building, 226,698-square-foot industrial lease at Building D in Beacon Logistics Park in the Miami suburb of Hialeah. Jose Juncadella and Sebastian Juncadella of Fairchild Partners represented the landlord, Codina Partners, in the lease deal. Wayne Ramoski and Gian Rodriguez of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant. Construction on Building D is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter, and All Florida Paper is slated to occupy the space by mid-2023. Once completed, Beacon Logistics Park, located at NW 145th Place and NW 107th Ave., will span more than 1.3 million square feet of space.
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Saltbox has opened a new 45,000-square-foot “co-warehousing” facility located at 4700 Eisenhower Drive in Alexandria, the company’s sixth location in the United States. Situated near Washington, D.C., the property features 85 flexible warehouse and office suites, as well as conference rooms, loading dock access and a photo studio for entrepreneurs. Atlanta-based Saltbox plans to double its footprint of co-warehousing assets by the end of the year with secondary assets coming to Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas. Last month, the company debuted its first fulfillment center in Columbus, Ohio. Saltbox houses 300 tenants across its six locations, 70 percent of which are e-commerce companies.
Bitzero to Redevelop Cold War-Era Missile Defense Site in North Dakota into Secure Data Center for $500M
by Jeff Shaw
NEKOMA, N.D. — Bitzero Blockchain Inc. has agreed to acquire the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex (SRMSC) in Nekoma, a tiny city of fewer than 50 residents approximately 130 miles south of Winnipeg, Canada. The Cavalier County Job Development Authority (CCJDA) is selling the property to Bitzero, which plans to redevelop the asset into a highly secure data center. The project costs, including the acquisition, are estimated at $500 million. Commonly referred to as “The Pyramid,” the SRMSC is a Cold War-era military installation which was built in 1970 to protect the nearby Grand Forks Air Force Base from potential attack from Soviet missiles. The Pyramid became operational in 1975, featured two different kinds of radar systems and data processing equipment, and controlled 30 anti-ballistic missiles that could be launched in case of attack. The main building features three-foot-thick concrete walls. The missile site was abandoned after just eight months in operation, when Congress voted to deactivate it. The missiles and equipment were removed, but the concrete structures remain on the landscape. The CCJDA has owned the site’s tactical area since 2017, but voted unanimously to accept Bitzero’s bid proposal after a presentation from CEO Akbar Shamji. Bitzero’s bid proposal for the site included a …
VISTA, CALIF. — RPG, in partnership with CenterSquare, has completed the sale of 1 Viper. The recently redeveloped and fully leased Class A industrial property is situated on 11.7 acres at 1 Viper Way in Vista. Santa Monica-based BLT Enterprises acquired the asset for $58 million. Aric Starck and Drew Dodds of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers in the deal. Following its acquisition of the property in 2021, RPG speculatively redeveloped and improved the 175,367-square-foot asset, which is situated on a 482,644-square-foot site. The property features 20 dock-high doors, 16 grade-level doors and skylights to increase natural light and energy efficiency. At the time of sale, the property was fully leased to Cymer and Gnarlywood.
MOUNT COMFORT, IND. — Core5 Industrial Partners has broken ground on C5 Indianapolis East, a 1.2 million-square-foot speculative industrial building in the Indianapolis suburb of Mount Comfort. The project will be the largest speculative building in the Indianapolis market, according to Core5. Completion is slated for the second quarter of 2023. The development will offer 635 auto parking spaces, 259 trailer spaces, 120 dock doors, two drive-in doors, electric vehicle charging stations, 12,000 square feet of office space and a clear height of 40 feet. The project is situated in Hancock County along I-70. Steve Schwegman and Brian Seitz of JLL will market the project for lease.