Marcal, Crow Holdings set summer start for new Elmwood Park industrial site (updated)

Big changes are coming to a portion of Marcal Paper’s property in Elmwood Park from real estate developer Crow Holdings Development. Marcal and Crow announced the latter’s industrial team acquired 11.87 acres along Market Street in the Bergen County municipality with plans to start work this summer on a 206,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art industrial building.

According to the May 31 announcement, the project has already received Site Plan approval from the Borough of Elmwood Park, whose design input was incorporated into the project plans.

An affiliate of Atlas Holdings — Marcal’s majority shareholder — will also invest in the project alongside Crow Development, the partners said, exhibiting that company’s commitment to the region and its enthusiasm for the revitalization of the location.

“Marcal is thrilled that Crow Holdings Development will be transforming this parcel of land into a new gem for our Borough, our county and our state,” said Marcal Paper President and CEO Rob Baron. “The property to be revitalized sits vacant today, and thus is not benefitting Elmwood Park or Bergen County in any way. Via this partnership with the Borough and Crow Holdings Development, we have taken the necessary step to change that.”

The partners say the project will serve to stimulate both the local and state economy: The construction phase is projected to have a $34 million impact on Bergen County and a $38 million impact for the state, in addition to creating 140 direct temporary jobs. After construction is complete, operations at the facility are expected to amount to an estimated $28 million in annual economic activity to the state while supporting 240 full-time equivalent jobs. The borough, its school district and Bergen County, meanwhile, will collect approximately $630,000 in new property taxes.

“Crow Holdings Development is rooted in the spirit of partnership, and we have been proud to work closely with Marcal, the community, and so many stakeholders to help redevelop this iconic site,” said Crow Holdings Senior Managing Director for the Northeast Region Clark Machemer. “We recognize and appreciate the history of this site, and we look forward to bringing new economic activity to such a highly visible, prime location.”

In 2019, the Marcal plant in Elmwood Park was the scene of a devastating fire. It restarted operations at the facility almost exactly one year after the incident, in 2020.

“We were all shaken by the tragic fire at Marcal and the fact that the company has been able to reopen at all is so welcomed,” U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a Democrat from the state’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Elmwood Park, stated.

Added Elmwood Park Mayor Robert Colletti: “The Marcal property has been a fixture in our community for nearly a century, home to an iconic business that has created careers for thousands and economic impact that is widely felt. They’ve come through a lot, and we’ve been pleased to partner with them. This new project is the next chapter in that partnership, allowing a part of their site destroyed by the fire in 2019 to be reimagined and redeveloped in a way that will benefit Elmwood Park in significant ways. We thank the company for seeking our input and making sure it was part of the plan for this exciting project.”

Crow Holdings currently has 54 industrial properties in development — and has developed or acquired more than 170 in its 22 years in business. This announcement follows other recent Garden State activity: The firm added 125 acres in Carteret, broke ground on its 1.2 million-square-foot park in Millstone Township, and achieved the development and disposition of the $164 million, newly built property at 50 Veronica Ave. in Franklin Township. That last project — with 925,000 square feet — is fully leased to LG Electronics USA. Crow cites it as the deal that established the firm “as one of the most capable developers in the Northeast.”

This new effort will add new logistics space to the hot North Jersey market, which has seen sustained and unprecedented demand over the past few years.

“1 Market St. is undoubtedly one of the market’s preeminent logistics sites in the Northeast,” said Iggy Armenia, Vice president with JLL’s Northeast Industrial Region, noting the firm handled the sale of the property to Crow Holdings. “The property is at the center of New Jersey’s wealth belt, and is embedded within one of the most densely populated labor pools in the United States. We are thrilled to be a part of the next phase of such a monumental project which will be attractive to any tenant seeking modern logistics space inside of the nation’s largest consumer base.”

Crow Holdings also tapped JLL’s Rob Kossar, David Knee, Chris Hile, Ignatius Armenia and Ryan Milanaik to lease the space. In the beginning of May, that firm pegged New Jersey’s total industrial vacancy rate at 1% for the first quarter of the year, the lowest in its history. For that same time period, 5.1 million square feet broke ground, adding up to 22.2 million square feet in total under-construction activity, also a record for the market.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:36 a.m. EST on June 1, 2022, to include remarks from JLL Northeast Industrial Region Vice President Iggy Armenia.