Falcon Acquires Philips Headquarters Building in Somerset, New Jersey
ACQUISITION
Falcon Acquires Philips Headquarters Building in Somerset, New Jersey
In December of 2001, Falcon Real Estate Investment Company LP completed the acquisition of the Philips North America Electronics Corporation office building on behalf of one of its clients. This regional headquarters building was purchased from the tenant in a sale-leaseback transaction at a price of $43 million. The building serves as the executive offices and product showrooms for Philips’ lighting division. The 200,000 square foot (18,622 square meter) building was constructed in 1986 and is located in Somerset, New Jersey.
Under the terms of the sale-leaseback agreement negotiated by Falcon Real Estate, Philips, the world leader in lighting sales with revenues of $35.3 billion (EUR 37.9 billion), will occupy the entire building under a 20-year, fully bondable lease. The bondable nature of this transaction places the responsibility and cost of all future capital repairs including building structure and roof to the tenant. The lease commencement occurred at the time of the closing of the purchase and calls for rental rate increases every five years of 8%, 5% and 5% respectively.
The prestigious Somerset, New Jersey office market is located 35 miles west of New York City and is home to several Fortune 500 companies including tele-communication, financial service and pharmaceutical firms. The Somerset County office market totals close to 12 million square feet with about 150 properties, and it currently has an overall vacancy rate of approximately 12%.
Kenneth C. Lorman, Vice President of Falcon Real Estate responsible for acquisitions in the Northeast part of the United States, notes that this investment was an unusual opportunity to acquire the corporate headquarters of a high quality, internationally recognized tenant. This property meets our client’s strict investment requirements and will produce a secure and growing income stream over the next twenty years.