Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II Buys Corporate Headquarters in New Jersey
Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust, purchased a class A office facility in Parsippany, New Jersey for $44 million from Normandy Real Estate Partners and Partners Group. The property is fully leased to Zoetis Services and guaranteed by the tenant’s parent company, Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS). Zoetis is a producer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock.
Located in the Mack-Cali Business Campus, the three-story, 125,735-square-foot office facility was originally constructed in 1984, but the seller demolished and renovated the building after signing a lease in July 2015 with the tenant for its global headquarters.
“With the business essential nature of the operations onsite, investment grade tenancy, annual rental rate escalations, institutional quality asset, and long-term lease duration, this transaction captures the majority of the salient acquisition criteria that we target for the REIT,” said Michael Escalante, Griffin Capital’s chief investment officer and president of the REIT. “This acquisition also marks a significant milestone for Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II, elevating the REIT’s total capitalization above $1 billion.”
The property is near Interstate 80 and Interstate 287, two of New Jersey’s main highways.
Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II invests in single tenant business essential properties throughout the United States, diversified by corporate credit, physical geography, product type and lease duration. The REIT has acquired 31 office and industrial buildings totaling approximately 6.5 million rentable square feet and asset value of approximately $947.2 million. As of November 30, 2016, the REIT has raised approximately $251.7 million from the sale of class A shares, approximately $414.2 million from the sale of class T shares, and approximately $6.7 million from the sale of class I shares.
