Cushman & Wakefield Brings 86-Acre Morris County Development Site to Market

An 86-acre infill development site has come online for sale in eastern Morris County, announced commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. The property - at 85 Whippany Road in Whippany - is part of a 194-acre former Alcatel-Lucent site that has undergone a highly successful redevelopment; the balance of the campus today houses Bayer's North American headquarters and MetLife Investments' global headquarters.

Cushman & Wakefield's New Jersey capital markets team is marketing the opportunity on behalf of Bayer, the seller. "This land parcel disposition represents the rare opportunity to acquire a large development site in one of New Jersey's premier infill locations, and we're already seeing strong interest from potential owner/occupiers and investors alike," noted Cushman & Wakefield's David Bernhaut, who is heading the assignment with Brian Whitmer and Mark Phillips, with additional support from Morristown's Joshua Cohen. "85 Whippany Road is suited for a variety of future uses given the area's dense, affluent demographics and large base of white-collar corporate employment."

This unique development opportunity is provided access from traffic-controlled intersections on Whippany Road at both Eden Lane and Parsippany Road. 85 Whippany Road is currently zoned OB-RL3 (Office Building and Research Laboratory District), allowing for professional office, research laboratories, state-licensed hospitals and nursing homes, child-care centers and more. Pending a zoning change, other potential uses that would be viable include multifamily, townhomes, hotel, retail or flex/industrial.

Located just off I-287, Route 10 and Route 24, 85 Whippany Road sits in the heart of New Jersey's "Golden Triangle," formed by Route 24, I-287 and I-78. Morris County, which is one of the wealthiest counties in the country with an average household income of over $158,000, supports strong real estate fundamentals across all asset types. It comprises Northern New Jersey's largest office market and features more than 40 Fortune 500 companies, with Barclays, Accenture, PWC, Allergan, Prudential, BASF, Realogy and Novartis also located in the neighborhood.

85 Whippany Road offers easy access for the highly educated Northern New Jersey workforce and the bedroom communities in which they reside. The property benefits from its proximity to the area's premier retail corridor (Route 10) and sought-after housing and schools. Downtown Morristown - a mass transit-served, vibrant 24/7 live-work-play environment - is just five miles away.
"We at Bayer are encouraged by the substantial interest we are receiving this early in the marketing process and are also eager to identify the best user to continue the positive development this neighborhood has experienced over the last couple of years," noted Matthias Muckle, Head of U.S. Real Estate Group at Bayer. "We anticipate a competitive bidding process given the fact that this is one of the last few large vacant land parcels in the regional marketplace."

Based in East Rutherford, Cushman & Wakefield's New Jersey capital markets team specializes exclusively in office, industrial, multifamily, land and retail property trades throughout New Jersey, New York and Fairfield County, Conn. The group has completed $33 billion worth of transactions since 2000, closing over $5.8 billion in sales since the beginning of 2018.

About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 51,000 employees in 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2018, the firm had revenue of $8.2 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.