PARSIPPANY — Global commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) announced it has arranged a new long-term lease for Vitaquest International LLC (Vitaquest), a nutritional and functional foods manufacturer, at 100 Jefferson Road. NKF Managing Director James Ritman of the Stamford office and Associate Director Trevor Patterson of the Rutherford office represented Vitaquest in this transaction.
Vitaquest will occupy the Pomeroy Suite within 100 Jefferson Road and have more than 200,000-square-foot of industrial space in total for a new manufacturing and distribution facility as it continues to expand its nutraceutical and functional food product development and manufacturing operations in New Jersey. Vitaquest already has operations in West Caldwell and Fairfield.
“Northern New Jersey continues to be a strong market for industrial space with extremely low vacancy rates, making it challenging for tenants in the market looking to expand their operations,” said Patterson. “Through a collaborative effort between our teams in New Jersey and Connecticut we were able to develop a clear understanding of what Vitaquest needed and find them a perfect space in 100 Jefferson to expand their operations in a strong and growing market,” added Ritman.
“As Vitaquest has continued to build its business at an exceptional pace, it has become necessary to further expand our operational capabilities in order to best serve our growing customer base. Our new facility at 100 Jefferson will allow us to continue to flourish within the nutraceutical industry while providing the best possible service to our customers,” said Scott Yagoda, general counsel and executive vice president at Vitaquest. “Partnering with the NKF tri-state team played an integral part in allowing us to find the perfect facility to meet our needs.”
The Northern New Jersey industrial market has recorded 16 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption. It has seen persistent demand for industrial space, with leasing activity over the past year amounting to 20 million square feet. Vacancy rates averaged 4.5% at the end of first quarter 2019, making it increasingly challenging for tenants in the market to find space.
100 Jefferson Road is owned by Turnbridge Equities. They sourced the acquisition in October 2018 of this 553,000 square feet industrial warehouse, which includes ceiling heights of up to 38’ tall with 25 loading docks, in joint venture with Harbor Group International.
