“You create a campus,” Mann said in a phone interview. “I think it’s a better alternative to think about doing something here than taking greenfields.”
In a similar instance in Cranbury in Middlesex County, local officials are trying to seize historic farmland to redevelop it for affordable housing, which has drawn public opposition. The owners have promised to take the issue to court.
Mann said the property is “already developed,” given the existing parking lots, he added. “You’ve got the infrastructure there to handle it.”
The property overall sold for an undisclosed amount, according to a Monday announcement from Iron Ore.
It previously fetched $9.35 million in 2018, after which the owners spent $2 million on upgrades which included new elevators, heat pumps, bathrooms and a lobby upgrade. Inside the building is a full-service cafeteria, conference center and gym with showers.
“It’s an incredible piece of land,” Mann said.
Office space out of vogue
The property sits near the busy Interstates 80 and 287 corridor, which according to James Hughes, a professor of urban planning and policy development at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, saw many office buildings spring up in the 1980’s.
Much of that office space fell out of vogue even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Hughes said, as younger talent flocked to urban centers like Jersey City, Hoboken and Manhattan.
The pandemic only hastened that trend amid the sudden adoption of widespread work-from-home and the slow return-to-office. In turn, some suburban office space has been demolished to make way for other developments such as apartments or warehouses.
The suburban offices most in demand are “Class A” offerings, the “newest, fanciest, best-designed buildings, which would attract high-quality tenants,” said Jeffrey Otteau, chief economist for the Otteau Group Inc., an Old Bridge-based real estate consultant.
“Class B and C are older suburban office buildings which are of the lowest quality and often not in very good condition,” he said.
The building itself is a Class A office space, according to real estate website LoopNet.
Northjersey.com, June 18, 2025
