Hampshire Buys 616,000 SF of Industrial

(Read more on the industrial market.)

MORRISTOWN, NJ-Investment fund manager Hampshire Cos. has added more than 616,000 sf of industrial space to its growing portfolio after concluding three separate transactions in recent days. In the largest deal, the company teamed with the Rochelle Park-based Tulfra Realty Co. to buy the 507,400-sf building at 3775 Park Ave. in Edison.

The building had been occupied by confectionary products manufacturer L.A. Dreyfus Co. since 1948, before the company vacated it last year. Dreyfus moved out and sold the building after parent Wrigley, for which it supplies gum bases, moved the Edison headquarters and manufacturing operations to Gainesville, GA. The sale price was not disclosed.

“This is an example of identifying an older corporate surplus property that is in a highly visible location, and repositioning it for better use,” says James Frank of Cushman & Wakefield, whose Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group brokered the deal. Along those lines, the new owners are marketing the building, which sits on 50 acres, as condominium units ranging from 7,500 sf to 100,000 sf. The new owners have dubbed the property Edison One Commerce Center.

Hampshire and Tulfra have also teamed up to buy the 69,000-sf industrial building at One Entin Rd. in Clifton from a local partnership for a similarly undisclosed price. The asset was acquired on behalf of the firm’s Hampshire Partners Fund VI, a $235-million institutional real estate investment fund. The asset features eight multi-tenant industrial condos ranging in size from 5,000 sf to 25,000 sf.

“We’re confident this acquisition will prove to be a strategic and profitable investment that offers great opportunities for potential tenants and users,” says Norman Feinstein, Hampshire’s executive managing director. “It’s great that we continue our joint venture relationship with Tulfra.”

Separately, Hampshire has also picked up 135 Algonquin Pkwy. in Whippany, a 40,250-sf industrial building on 3.4 acres near Route 10. The seller was American Renolit Corp., a Laporte, IN-based maker of plastic film products, which has moved out. The sale price for the currently vacant building was not released. The acquisition was made on behalf of the Hampshire Generational Fund, a fund that is tailored to high net worth investors.

“With vacancy rates below 8% in the Morris County industrial market, this acquisition should be a strong performer,” Feinstein says. “This transaction is an example of our goal of investing in quality properties in top locations.”

NAI James Hanson of Hackensack, represented Hampshire. The seller was represented by Resource Realty of Parsippany.