New office construction is rare in the current commercial real estate market, and mid-size build-to-suit opportunities are even rarer still. However, an office building ready for construction in West Windsor will provide just that in the Princeton submarket – the opportunity for a modest-sized company to design its own space and the building around it, precisely to meet current and future office requirements.
The 38,000-square-foot build-to-suit opportunity is located at 19 Roszel Road in West Windsor – a joint venture of Mountain Development Corp. (MDC) and Gottesman Real Estate Partners. It is situated in the heart of the Route 1 corridor adjacent to Carnegie Center, and is part of the two-building Roszel Square development. The project has the advantage of proximity to New Jersey Transit at Princeton Junction, along with the many restaurants and amenities of Market Fair and nearby power retail centers.
“The site is fully entitled, and shovel-ready,” said Michael Allen Seeve, president of the Woodland Park, N.J.-based MDC. “This allows us to deliver the space on time and on budget, as we did with the first building.”
Milt Charbonneau of DTZ is leading the marketing effort for the venture. Charbonneau noted that the building could be named for a tenant of 20,000 square feet, which is highly unusual.
The developers completed the initial 21 Roszel Road, a 62,500-square-foot, three-story building, led by a build-to-suit lease with Hill Wallack, LLP earlier this year. The law firm occupies 48,000 square feet, and Ripen eCommerce subsequently leased 9,200 square feet, leaving just one 4,000-square-foot first-floor space availability.
“Hill Wallack was a candidate for renewal at its previous location, but we were able to structure a long-term transaction for a new building at comparable pricing,” said Seeve. “The Princeton/West Windsor market is one of the few in New Jersey that offers tenants the opportunity to move into brand-new, build-to-suit space for exactly what they would pay for older, less-contemporary offices.”
The 19 Roszel Road build-to-suit opportunity is situated in an area with many established global companies as neighbors. “Our project is on a much more human scale, allowing a mid-size company the opportunity to design and create its own space and enjoy the branding that comes with it in a very prestigious location.”
Similar to Hill Wallack at 21 Roszel Road, prospective lead tenants for the new building will be able to play a major role in planning the interior design of their office space. Working closely with the development team and the architectural firm Gensler, “Hill Wallack created an exceptional environment for its clients and staff,” said Charbonneau. “They participated very actively in the design and development of the building, so everything – from the lobby finishes, to the ceiling height, to color of the exterior brick, to tree selection in the plaza, to the most minute details of the security system… everything was designed to meet their needs at a base rental price competitive with older buildings in the area.”
