 541 Industrial Way West, Eatontown Lermer Ltd. was one of the world’s largest producers of aircraft galley equipment and carts used by the airline industry, having major manufacturing plants in Germany, and also at this 125,000 SF facility in Eatontown Industrial Park. After the company was sold, the principals retained this building and hired Andy Rudoff of Resource Realty to be the leasing agent. Andy represented the ownership with various leasing assignments over a fifteen year period until the decision was made by the principal, who was retiring, to sell the property.
After a Contract of Sale with a local investor fell through, Andy and the ownership decided that there was a good opportunity to increase value by converting the building to condominium ownership, especially since the local market was not awash with single users for 125,000 SF. Andy put together a team of legal condo specialists and worked closely with the lawyers in creating the master deed and by-laws, and defining the common area elements, reserved parking areas, and utility separations. Next, Andy retained an architecture firm for the ownership and worked with them to create various floor plans that would be of interest to a variety of different sized users. Professional color coded floor plan exhibits were created to give interested buyers a clear graphic representation of different locations within the building that could work for their requirement. At the same time an aggressive marketing campaign was initiated by Resource Realty that including large scale targeted mailings, internet and other print and media advertising, and considerable local personal solicitation.
The result was that all the space was sold and the ownership realized total proceeds which exceeded the value of the prior contract by $3,500,000, or roughly 35%.
The client says:
“Andy had represented our property for many years and I felt that I could trust his instincts. This was somewhat groundbreaking since no other large light industrial buildings in our area had been converted to condominium ownership, and we felt the timing was right. Our buyers realized substantial cost savings by being a part of a larger facility, getting their space for less than freestanding buildings, paying cheaper rates for taxes, and gaining economies of scale for maintenance expenses and insurance. Andy put together a great team of professionals and was involved at every step and level. His hard work, persistence, and experience led to a stellar result,. Andy was very persistent in working on this project, and I firmly believe that his dedication and expert knowledge of the marketplace was the biggest contributing factor to our success with this project. Working with Andy for over fifteen years on various leasing and then selling assignments has been a great pleasure for me and his involvement made my job considerably easier. I would heartily recommend him for your next commercial real estate project.”
Wayne Eckhoff, Lermer Ltd. (732) 915-5645 |