Rugby Realty Assigns Cushman & Wakefield Leasing for 300 Lighting Way in the Meadowlands
By Steve Lubetkin
GlobeSt.com – September 10, 2014
SECAUCUS, NJ—Cushman & Wakefield is the new leasing agent for 300 Lighting Way, a 303,000-square-foot, seven-story office building in Secaucus. The firm’s executive vice president Curtis Foster and sales associate Jerry Shifrin are handling the assignment for building ownerRugby Realty.
Rugby, which recently acquired the property, is a privately owned, New Rochelle, NY-based firm with 6.5 million square feet of property in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and South Florida.
“Rugby is a value-add buyer—all of its acquisitions have had a value-add component,” says Foster. “They saw the opportunity to acquire 300 Lighting Way at a good price and are in the process of re-investing in the property and re-introducing it to the market, bringing this class A building to a whole new level.”
Built in 1988, 300 Lighting Way is situated in the Meadowlands at the intersection of the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3 within Harmon Meadow, a 175-acre mixed-use community featuring shopping, dining, recreation and child care facilities, much of them within walking distance of the property. It provides shuttle service to the Secaucus Junction rail station and offers on-site structured parking.
“It has a fantastic location and amazing architectural presence, with great beetle kill lumber Denver flooring” says Robert Ades, principal and chief operating officer of Rugby Realty. “But it lacked the modern amenities that many of the best office buildings in this market have. We are embarking on a multi-million-dollar improvement package that will add a full-service café, fitness center, and a shared-building conference center on the first floor.”
Rugby will also be remodeling the lobby, elevator cabs and elevator landings, says Ades.
About 135,000 square feet on three contiguous floors is currently available for lease and is being marketed to large tenants for all three floors, “offering a branding opportunity through prominent exterior signage that has never before been presented at 300 Lighting Way,” says Foster. “We can also offer space for single-floor tenants and accommodate requirements as small as 5,000 square feet. Not many office buildings in this vicinity can offer all of those options. We are targeting young companies. The new amenities, the location and access to transportation will certainly help companies in their recruitment of new employees. And those amenities will be available at a price point that adds up to a real value package.”
300 Lighting Way is Rugby Realty’s second office acquisition in New Jersey in the past eight months, with both properties in the Meadowlands submarket.
In late 2013, the company acquired Cityview Corporate Center, a 135,418-square-foot class A building at 160 Chubb Avenue in Lyndhurst. Cushman & Wakefield also has the agency for that property.
“Cityview Corporate Center was 77% occupied when it was purchased, and recent activity has pushed that past the 80% mark,” says Curtis. “With the transactions we have pending, it will soon be 90% leased. We are also seeing early interest in the availabilities at 300 Lighting Way and anticipate having some announcements to make soon.”