Dealmaker: JLL Income Property Trust Acquires Life Sciences Facility for $47M
JLL Income Property Trust, Chicago, acquired 170 Park Avenue, a 147,000-square-foot life sciences building in Florham Park, N.J.
The JLL-sponsored real estate investment trust paid $47 million for the property currently net-leased as laboratory space and the corporate headquarters for biotechnology company Celularity Inc. The 15-year lease includes 2.5 percent annual rent increases on average.
“Within the office sector our priority investments are healthcare-oriented, focusing on medical office and life science properties,” said JLL Income Property Trust President and CEO Allan Swaringen. “In a post-COVID environment of eroding fundamentals for traditional multi-tenant office properties, these two healthcare-oriented sectors stand out for their lower vacancy rates, healthy net absorption and balanced new supply due to significant barriers to entry because of higher construction and tenant improvement costs.”
Swaringen noted these same factors lead to higher tenant retention during weaker periods within traditional office market environments.
JLL Income Property Trust acquired 170 Park Avenue for significantly below replacement cost and with tenant and prior owner-funded improvements to the building that exceed $80 million, Swaringen said.
With more than 3,200 life science companies, New Jersey is a major biopharmaceutical and drug development hub. The state’s life science market exceeds 17 million square feet of research, development and lab space, ranking it among the top markets nationally after Boston, San Francisco and San Diego. Large pharmaceutical companies in the area include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Bayer and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
170 Park Avenue occupies more than 18 acres in The Green at Florham Park, a 270-acre master-planned mixed-use office park that also includes BASF’s North American headquarters and the New York Jets training facility. The acquisition increased JLL Income Property Trust’s healthcare allocation to five properties totaling more than 450,000 square feet, valued at more than $215 million.
