From Commercial Property News:
Gale, Rockefeller Close on Parcel for 493-Acre Mixed-Use, Jets HQ
Gale Real Estate Services Co. and Rockefeller Group Development Corp. have closed on the acquisition of the former ExxonMobil campus in Florham Park, N.J. The purchase paves the way for the venture’s planned development of a 493-acre master-planned mixed-use project that will include the new headquarters and training facility for the New York Jets.
The venture, dubbed Rock-GW, plans to develop the site to feature 600,000 square feet of office space, an age-restricted residential community and a 250-room hotel, in addition to the Jets facility (pictured). 60 percent of the site will be preserved as open space. The Jets opted to move their headquarters to the planned development in late March, beating out four other cities, as reported by CPN at the time. The Jets will lease the land from the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which will purchase 20 acres of the parcel from Gale and Rockefeller, The team’s facility is expected to open in 2007.
The development is expected to boost the already strong office market in Morris County, which has been one of New Jersey’s leading counties in terms of growth in recent years. Rockefeller Group executive vice president Lee Smith, Jr., said in a statement that the acquisition of the ExxonMobil campus was a critical phase in the development process and highlighted the collective diligence of civic officials and the development team as vital to the development’s continued progress.
Speaking with CPN today, Gale president Mark Yeager said that the overall completion of the project would likely take up to 5 years. “This is a true master-planned development, so by the time all of the phases get built, you’re probably looking at 2011 or 2012,” he predicted. Yeager identified obtaining additional entitlement and approvals, as well as a resolution with a neighboring municipality that had expressed concerns over the development.