JERSEY CITY, N.J. — MEPT, in conjunction with Bentall Kennedy, has purchased the 1.1 million-square-foot Newport Tower, a high-rise office tower located at 525 Washington Blvd. in Jersey City, from Brookfield Office Properties for $377.5 million.
The 36-story, Class A building sits on the Hudson waterfront. It is LEED Gold certified and currently 89 percent leased to a variety of financial service firms and related services companies.
“The Newark Metro market is one of our major target markets for the fund,” said Martin Standiford, senior vice president of acquisitions for the Northeast for Bentall Kennedy. “We were underweighted in that market relative to our holdings in the other strategic markets. We do have some properties there but relative to the size of that market, we were really underrepresented.”
The Hudson waterfront submarket has strong supply and demand fundamentals, with a vacancy rate around 6 percent, Standiford said.
MEPT purchased the building through a limited partnership subsidiary. CBRE represented the seller in the transaction and has been retained to provide property management and leasing services.
“Newport Tower is a significant acquisition for MEPT since it provides the fund with an investment in a high-quality, stabilized asset in the New York-New Jersey market, which is one of the strongest office markets in the U.S.,” said David Antonelli, executive vice president and MEPT portfolio manager at Bentall Kennedy in a statement.
“Additionally, the property’s sustainable features and energy-efficient operations are a complement to MEPT’s existing office portfolio and consistent with the fund’s global leadership in environmental performance,” Antonelli said.
MEPT is a $5.3 million open-end commingled real estate equity fund that has invested in institutional-quality real estate assets in 30 major metropolitan markets in the U.S. Three entities manage the company: NewTower Trust Co. is the trustee of the fund; Bentall Kennedy acts as real estate investment advisor; and Landon Butler & Co. provides investor relations and marketing services.
— Savannah Duncan