The Princeton region is known for serving the state’s life sciences industry and on May 2, Cushman & Wakefield announced it arranged the sale of a R&D property in the Mercer County municipality with 78,922 square feet of space.

The real estate services firm’s Gary Gabriel, David Bernhaut, Frank DiTommaso, Brett Grifo, Keith Braccia and Eric Johnstone — with support from local leasing specialists Shawn Straka and Todd Elfand — represented an affiliate of Equus Capital Partners Ltd., the owner, in the transaction for 350 Carter Road in Princeton.

The purchaser and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The property is fully leased to NJ Biopharmaceuticals LLC, doing business as NJ Bio. The provider of chemistry and biopharmaceutical services more than doubled its footprint at the location in December 2021 to occupy the entire property.

“The life sciences sector continues to pique the interest of the national capital markets and given the lack of offerings throughout the region for truly built-out lab and R&D space, we saw a tremendous amount of investor interest and bidding activity,” Bernhaut said.

As evidenced by the sale of 350 Carter Road, Cushman & Wakefield’s First Quarter 2022 Life Sciences Update, North American Report finds that demand for space in the sector in New Jersey — particularly fully leased properties — is still high among investors.

Asking rents have been on the rise for the past two years, according to the report. When compared with 2020, the average net asking rate for rental space is up by 12.2% for an all-time high of $33.61-per-square-foot.

The single-story lab building sits on 19 acres of land, according to Cushman & Wakefield, and offers a mix of chemistry and biology labs; NMR suites; solvent storage rooms; temperature-controlled rooms; a central glass washroom; nearly 100 fume hoods piped for nitrogen, carbon dioxide, vacuum and compressed air; and more.

“The building’s exceptional infrastructure and history of capital improvements made by its previous pharmaceutical research users provided buyers with an added level of security and the property’s recent leasing success further validates Princeton as a focal point for N.J.’s life sciences industry,” DiTommaso said.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, the property in “Einstein’s Alley” is equidistant from Manhattan and Philadelphia.

“Located in proximity to the state’s top medical facilities and educational institutions, this fully leased state-of-the-art lab facility offered investors a steady income stream and limited downside in what is becoming a highly sought-after product type,” added Grifo.