Mack-Cali Under Contract to Sell 101 Hudson Street to Birch Group for $380M
By Cathy Cunningham September 23, 2021 1:56 pm
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Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is under contract to sell 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City, N.J., to The Birch Group for $380 million, Commercial Observer has learned.
The deal is expected to close in the next 30 days.
Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Adam Spies, Andy Merin, David Bernhaut and Kevin Donner arranged the sale, sources said.
The 42-story, Art Deco-inspired office tower at 101 Hudson Street spans 1.2 million square feet and is one of the tallest buildings in Jersey City. It sits in a prime location, close to the Exchange Place New Jersey PATH station and with views of the Manhattan skyline, New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty from its upper floors.
Built in 1982 and also known as the Merrill Lynch Building, the property counts Merrill Lynch Private Client Group among its tenants today, in addition to several others, such as AIG. In May of this year, life sciences company Apprentice.io signed a 32,000-square-foot, 10-year lease at the building, as reported by Real Estate Weekly.
Mack-Cali acquired the building in 2004 for $329 million.
The acquisition is the latest of several New Jersey office building purchases by The Birch Group, which is led by founder and CEO Mark Meisner and based in Nanuet, N.Y.
In April, the investment firm acquired a four-building, 843,300-square-foot office portfolio in Short Hills for $255 million — also from Mack-Cali — and in July, it acquired a 200,000-square-foot office portfolio in Princeton from BentallGreenOak for $47.3 million.
The Short Hills portfolio comprised four buildings— 51 JFK Parkway, 101 JFK Parkway, 103 JFK Parkway, and 150 JFK Parkway — and represented another big step towards Mack-Cali’s disposition of suburban office properties, allowing the company to pay down corporate debt and also strengthen its balance sheet, Mahbod Nia, CEO of Mack-Cali, said at the time of the sale.
As for 101 Hudson, the property doesn’t only house several top tenants, it’s also home to several peregrine falcons. The endangered birds nest on its rooftop, and can be viewed during nesting season via the Jersey City Falcon Cam, operated by The New Jersey Department of Environmental Projection, Division of Fish & Wildlife. Talk about a bird’s-eye view of the city.
Officials at Mack-Cali, Birch Group and C&W declined to comment.
Cathy Cunningham can reached at ccunningham@commercialobserver.com.
