NAIOP NJ reveals 2023 Deal of the Year finalists (updated)

The New Jersey Chapter of NAIOP (NAIOP NJ) will hand out its 2023 Deal of the Year Awards at the organization’s 36th Annual Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala on May 18 at The Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset.

This week, the local chapter of the leading trade association for developers, owners, investors, asset managers and other commercial real estate professionals announced the finalists in the running for the honors.

The awards will be presented in two categories:

Industrial Deal of the Year finalists:

• Monroe 8A Logistics Center – Home Depot, Monroe
  One of the largest warehouses in New Jersey, Monroe 8A Logistics Center, a 1.28 million-square-foot industrial development by Brookfield Properties, was able to secure – with the aid of JLL as its leasing team – a long-term lease with Home Depot, which was represented by CBRE.
  Involved in the deal: Brookfield Properties, JLL, Sansone, QuadReal, Colliers, and Apollo
• Bridge Point 78 Phase II, Phillipsburg
  In October 2022, a multinational e-commerce and third-party logistics, publicly traded platform signed a 1.25 million-square-foot, long-term lease for the entirety of Bridge Industrial’s Class A development, Bridge Point 78 Phase II. This deal marked one of the year’s largest leases signed across the entire state. Involved in the deal: Bridge Industrial
• Samsung @ Linden Logistics Center, Linden
  In one of the largest transactions of the year, JLL represented Samsung in securing 735,220 square feet in New Jersey’s largest industrial park under development, near Port Newark/Elizabeth, from survey to lease execution in just two months.
  Involved in the deal: Advance Realty Investors, JLL and Greek Development

Office Deal of the Year finalists:

• Englewood Health Consolidation/Expansion, Englewood
  A CBRE team was charged with finding 100,000 square feet of commercial space close to Englewood Hospital’s central location, in a supply-constrained corridor of the city that would also suit the clinical needs of Englewood Health in terms of scale, build-out potential and convenience for staff and patients.
  Involved in the deal: CBRE and Englewood Health
• 101 Hudson, Jersey City
  This historic, $346 million sale represented New Jersey’s largest office deal in 2022 and one of the largest investor office transactions in the state’s history. Executed during one of the most challenging capital markets environments, the sale was a monumental achievement in Veris Residential’s eight-plus-year strategic office disposition plan.
  Involved in the deal: Cushman & Wakefield, The Birch Group and Veris Residential
• Avis Budget Group at Latitude, Parsippany
  Avis Budget Group relocated its world headquarters to Latitude, a state-of-the-art, 700,000-square-foot office complex owned by Vision Real Estate Partners and Rubenstein Partners. The creative office condominium transaction resulted in the retention of 600 New Jersey jobs and significant financial benefits to the occupier, owner and the state.
  Involved in the deal: Vision Real Estate Partners; Rubenstein Partners; Newmark; CBRE; Charles Applebaum Esq.; Fox Rothschild; Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP; and Giordano Halleran & Ciesla
• Fiserv New Jersey HQ at The Park, Berkeley Heights
  Fiserv’s 411,954-square-foot, long-term lease at The Park was New Jersey’s largest new office lease in 2022. Fiserv’s financial technology hub, one of the largest on the East Coast, will bring together existing and future New Jersey employees as they collaborate and innovate in an inspiring workplace environment.
  Involved in the deal: Cushman & Wakefield; The Connell Co.; Fiserv; VVA Project Management Co.; GS Ferguson Group LLC; Mancini Duffy; Ted Moudis & Associates; Structure Tone; Robert Derector Associates; and Husch Blackwell LLP

The notice of 2023’s Deal of the Year finalists follows last month’s announcement revealing NAIOP NJ’s 2023 Commercial Real Estate Awards recipients.

Those honors will also be presented at the May gala:

• Charles Klatskin Lifetime Achievement Award
  Robert Donnelly Sr., executive vice chair, Cushman & Wakefield
  Honoring an individual with a distinguished record in service to the industry and the community
• Impact Award
  Christopher Paladino, president, New Brunswick Development Corp.
  George Jacobs, president, Jacobs Enterprises Inc.
  Recognizing firms and/or individuals that have had a significant impact on New Jersey’s commercial and industrial real estate development industry
• Industry Service Award
  Meryl Gonchar, member, Sills Cummis & Gross PC
  In recognition of her considerable contributions in support of the industry’s goals
• Caren S. Franzini Public Partner Award
  Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver
   Honoring champions of economic development that inspire and transform communities

The gala’s members-only ticket pre-sale is open now through March 24. Ticket sales will open to the public on March 25 unless the event is sold out.  For sponsorship information and complete details, click here.

You can find NJBIZ’s coverage of last year’s 35th Annual Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala here.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:42 p.m. ET on March 10, 2023, to update the name of the one of the Office Deal of the Year finalists to “Fiserv New Jersey HQ at The Park, Berkeley Heights.”