ExxonMobil Sells 493-Acre Site

FLORHAM PARK, NJ-Culminating a deal that has been in the works for some time and setting in motion a redevelopment project five years in the planning, Gale Real Estate Services and Rockefeller Group Development Corp. have closed on the acquisition of the 493-acre former ExxonMobil research campus here. ExxonMobil was the seller; the sale price was not released.

Gale, a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty, and Rockefeller will create a mixed-use community. The two companies will team up as Rock-GW to build some 600,000 sf of offices, an age-restricted residential community and a 250-room hotel. About 60% of the site will remain as open space.

And as reported by GlobeSt.com, a centerpiece of the redevelopment will be a new headquarters and training facility for the New York Jets NFL team. The $50-million complex, which will include 120,000 sf of building space and several practice fields, will rise on 20 acres and is expected to be ready by the summer of 2008.

“We’re very excited to have this critical phase of the process completed,” says Les Smith Jr., executive vice president of Rockefeller Group Development, of the now-completed acquisition. “Everyone involved, from the various town officials to our development team, has worked diligently for several years to reach this point.” Smith continues, “The complex nature of this acquisition was deserving of the length of time, study and collaboration devoted to assuring a fair outcome for all parties. We should all be proud of our efforts.”

Formerly the site of an Exxon research and engineering facility, the site is bordered by Route 24 to the north and Park Avenue to the south. Not part of the deal and redevelopment are the former Exxon/Mobil buildings themselves, which were separately acquired several years ago by another developer and refurbished into what is now the Park Place office complex.