The Merck headquarters in New Jersey
New York-based real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield announced today that it had been appointed to broker the sale of the corporate campus of pharmaceutical giant Merck, and that it is actively marketing the New Jersey asset to Chinese investors.
Cushman, which is the world’s largest privately held commercial real estate services firm, is brokering the Merck headquarters to clients globally, but in a sign of the growing clout of investors from the mainland, the company’s China operations have made it clear that Chinese buyers are among their primary targets.
The 92,000 sqm (GFA) facility, which is located within an hour of New York City in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey sits on a 2 million square metre site which includes an on-site solar farm, data centre, and its own helipad.
No asking price was announced for the facility.
Chinese investors have been increasingly active in buying US commercial real estate assets in recent months, with Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun investing $725 million to buy the Chase Manhattan building in New York last month. Also during October, Greenland Group took a majority stake in the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, and China’s largest construction company, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, acquired a site in New Jersey for $68 million.
Ted Li, National Director of Capital Markets China at Cushman & Wakefield commented: “The U.S office market is widely considered to have bottomed out, thus making it a historic period for purchasing opportunities. Due to the mature legal environment, stable returns and huge value-added potential compared to China, the U.S. office market is attracting more and more Chinese investors.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group based in New York is heading the assignment.
Designed by internationally recognized architect Kevin Roche, the Merck property is one of the most recognized corporate facilities in the region.
Completed in 1992, the 3-story Class A office facility boasts a multi-level conference center featuring a 250-seat auditorium, a landscaped central courtyard, fitness center, basketball and tennis courts, and even 2,300 square meter child care centre.
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