Appointment Follows APF Acquisition, Rebrand of Property at 1655 Valley Road
WAYNE, N.J. – April 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. has been named leasing agent for the newly rebranded Wayne Solar Center office building at 1655 Valley Road in Wayne. The appointment follows the 157,000-square-foot property’s recent acquisition by New York-based APF Properties.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Dan Johnsen and James Frank, based at the firm’s East Rutherford, N.J., office, are heading the effort, which includes marketing the property’s entire, 40,000-square-foot top-floor for lease. The space can be divided and includes building signage rights.
APF Properties, which has deep roots in green building initiatives, is incorporating a 1 Mega Watt Solar Photovoltaic carport installation at Wayne Solar Center, which will provide electricity to the building. Lobby renovations also underway include the incorporation of flat-panel monitors that will display the amount of electricity being generated by the solar installation.
“Our plan is to take this property beyond its current perch as the best building in its market,” said Kenneth Aschendorf, APF Properties co-founder. “Our intent is also to undertake other environmentally sustainable initiatives and to pursue LEED Certification.”
1655 Valley Road was constructed in 1987 and is two-thirds leased by a Fortune 100 company.
“Wayne Solar Center is ideal for companies looking to support a corporate culture focused on environmental stewardship,” Johnsen said. “Add to that the chance for a smaller user to tie its brand directly to the building by way of prominent signage, and the opportunity becomes even more attractive. Here, a 40,000-square-foot tenant can display its name alongside corporate neighbors like Valley National Bank, Toys R Us, JVC, Hankook Tire and William Paterson University.”
The available space is being offered as a value play with a very aggressive rental rate structure, including a full concession package. “As new owners utilizing conservative debt leverage, we are financially solid. This gives us the financial strength to be extremely competitive within the marketplace,” Aschendorf noted. “We have the ability to be creative with prospective tenants in structuring leases to accommodate their needs and to turn this building into a 100 percent occupied asset.”
Located on an 11-acre campus, Wayne Solar Center features a full-height glass atrium lobby and onsite amenities including a full-service cafeteria, fitness room with lockers, conference space and indoor/outdoor patio seating. The building sits across the street from an NJ Transit bus stop.
APF Properties is a fully integrated real estate investment firm founded in 1995 by Kenneth Aschendorf and Berndt Perl. The firm owns and manages over 2 million square feet of commercial space in Manhattan, Philadelphia and New Jersey.
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