Jones Lang LaSalle

Biovail HQ Sells for $22M
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: March 8, 2006 07:52am

BRIDGEWATER, NJ-Newkirk Realty Trust has acquired Bridgewater Corporate Center, the corporate headquarters site for Biovail Pharmaceuticals Inc., for $22 million. The 116,000-sf, three-story asset located on Route 202/206 North in this Somerset County township traded for just under $190 per sf.

Newkirk Realty Trust is a Boston-based REIT that focuses on single-tenant and net-leased assets. US Realty Advisors was the financial advisor to Newkirk. The seller, Sunbelt Management, a Delray Beach, FL-based fund backed by private German investment money, was represented by Grubb & Ellis. For G&E, John Hoffman, Matthew Schnurr and Michael Harrington of the firm's institutional investment group, Fairfield, orchestrated the transaction.
"Investor demand for this asset was created when we highlighted the long-term lease to Biovail, the credit tenancy, strong market fundamentals, recent capital upgrades to the building and the below market lease rate," Hoffman says. “The due diligence and closing was completed in less than 23 days.”

"Sunbelt Management mostly owns CBD office towers, which this building isn't," Schnurr tells GlobeSt.com, noting the suburban location of the asset. "With this sale, Sunbelt is modifying their portfolio slightly and redeploying the returns into other core properties."

The asset was originally developed as a build-to-suit in 1986 for Chubb Insurance, which used it for several years as a regional headquarters and call center. Sunbelt Management subsequently acquired the property subject to Chubb's long-term lease, but the latter eventually vacated the premises in 2002.

In an expansion move on its part, Biovail then moved into the center in November 2003, less than a year after it was vacated. Biovail is a specialty pharmaceutical company and the North American division of the Mississauga, ON-based Biovail Group.