One of the more prominent buildings in the Jersey City skyline is slated to change hands in the coming weeks as a buyer has been found for an office complex just a block from the Hudson River.
Several sources have indicated that Mack-Cali has agreed to a deal that would transfer ownership of their 42-story 101 Hudson Street property to Nanuet-based The Birch Group. The sale price is believed to be $380 million and the deal, first reported by Real Estate Weekly, is expected to close within the next 30 days.
The 1.2-million-square-foot Art Deco office building, situated near the Exchange Place stations on both the PATH and the Hudson Bergen Light Rail, includes a four-story parking garage with 900 spaces plus ground-floor retail with tenants including Five Guys, Au Bon Pain, and Amiya. Built in 1982, the building has office leases in place with companies that include Merrill Lynch and AIG.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Adam Spies, Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, and Kevin Donner arranged the sale, sources said. Mack-Cali purchased the building in 2004 for $329 million and remortgaged the tower with a 10-year, $250-million loan in 2016.
The Birch Group has been busy lately, recently acquiring office complexes in Princeton and Morristown. The Jersey City deal with Mack-Cali will be the second complex The Birch Group has acquired from the company this year, as they also purchased an 840,000-square-foot office portfolio in Short Hills back in April.
The sale comes at a tumultuous time for Mack-Cali following the ouster of former CEO Michael DeMarco last summer amid a year-long proxy battle. The company has been shedding much of its suburban commercial portfolio in recent months including a complex in Red Bank they unloaded for $84 million.
Despite the issues, Mack-Cali remains one of the biggest landowners along the Jersey City waterfront. Their holdings include office and retail complexes like the newly-renovated Harborside and the upcoming The Charlotte residential development.
In addition, Mack-Cali owns a Morgan Street lot where a future development is planned. The company also has approvals in place to build a 68-story residential project along Hudson Street that has yet to break ground.
