American Real Estate Partners and Independencia Asset Management bought 380k SF of office at 1100, 1150, and 1200 Merrill Lynch Dr in Hopewell, NJ, from Fortress Investment. A source tells us it's a $90M deal.
Yesterday, AREP CEO Doug Fleit told us his firm had its eye on the three buildings last year when Bank of America Merrill Lynch's 1.8M SF, 12-building campus was up for sale, but Fortress took the whole kit and caboodle in December in a 12-year sale-leaseback.
Since then, Fortress has sliced the campus into quarters, selling three buildings to Cole Credit, selling these properties to AREP, potentially selling another three, and keeping three for itself. Doug says AREP likes the long-term stability of the Princeton office market and its educated workforce.
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