Law Firm Takes 65,000 SF in New Spec Project

WEST ORANGE, NJ-Wolff & Samson, one of the largest law firms in New Jersey, has signed a long-term lease for 65,109 sf of space at The Offices at Crystal Lake, a 106,205-sf class A property here. The 30-year-old law firm will relocate its headquarters from nearby Roseland, NJ, where it has been occupying a total of 46,000 sf.

“Wolff and Samson maxed out their Roseland address some time ago, necessitating this expansion of more than 40% in space,” according to Jacqueline Rowe of Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey Inc., East Rutherford, who represented the tenant. “As a temporary solution to that problem, they have been converting conference rooms into attorneys’ offices. The upcoming move will provide ample space and enable them to consolidate their operations on two contiguous floors.”

That move is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, according to Rowe. In the transaction, the developer/owner of the property, Crystal Lake LLC, an Essex County-based partnership headed by B.N.E. Associates, was represented exclusively by GVA Williams of New Jersey, Parsippany. Rowe terms the lease “one of the largest commercial transactions in suburban Essex County in the last 18 months.”

The recently completed three-story The Offices at Crystal Lake is a rarity in the Garden State’s current office market in at least one respect — it was developed on spec. The asset is located at a four-way interchange of I-280 at the highest elevation of this Essex County community just west of Newark. Its amenities include a café, fitness center and underground parking, according to Rowe.

Wolff & Samson, which traces its roots to Newark, also has offices in Atlantic City and New York City. Over the last decade, the practice has grown from some 50 lawyers to about 90 partners and associates. Wolff & Samson provides services for businesses and individual clients in most areas of law.