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Former Pharma Campuses Face Challenges Reinventing Themselves in Rockland County
REAL ESTATE
Hudson Valley iCampus, once the Pfizer campus, continues to attract and retain high-tech and pharmaceutical tenants but the 2.1-million-square-foot campus on 401 North Middletown Road in Pearl River remains mostly unoccupied.
The 207-acre campus has recently inked a lease of 86,243 square feet of office and laboratory space in several buildings to Pfizer, Inc., the multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation that owns about 30 adjacent acres to the campus. Cushman & Wakefield represented Pfizer.
Momentive Performance Materials, Inc., which relocated from Tarrytown, last year leased 66,430 square feet in a vacant building on the campus. Momentive is a global high-performance silicones and specialties company that is opening a Global Innovation Center to support its growing Performance Additives business. The GIC will include a modern R&D laboratory and office space.
Andrew Tarvin of Tarvin Commercial Real Estate Services represented Momentive. John Cunningham of JLL represented the landlord.
Pfizer, Inc., which saw renewed activity during the Coronavirus pandemic, leased 86,243 square feet of office and laboratory space in multiple buildings. Pfizer also owns approximately 30 adjacent acres to the site.
“We are very pleased with how swiftly our rebranding program and outreach to the community has positively impacted our leasing efforts,” said Jamie Schwartz, President of Hudson Valley iCampus.
Schwartz, who was named President of the Hudson Valley iCampus 18 months ago, rebranded the campus, which was sold by Pfizer, Inc. in 2015 for $40 million to Industrial Realty Group, LLC (IRG), a real estate development and investment firm.
Current IRG tenants include Pfizer, Sanofi, Profectus, Biosciences, Urban Electric Power and NuBiyota. In January 2021, the New Jersey-based RK Pharma, a drug company that develops injectable and oral pharmaceuticals, signed a long-term lease with IRG (Industrial Realty Group, LLC) for 83,000 square feet in Building 215 and its annex.
Nearly 57 percent of the 2-million-square-foot mixed use, multi-tenanted campus in Pearl River remains vacant but Schwartz continues to aggressively market the rebranded property, which has more than 20 vacant buildings.
Rockland County was once a thriving hub for pharmaceutical companies. The former Novartis campus in Suffern is slated to become a warehouse distribution center. The Avon facility, also in Suffern, will close later this year.
Hudson Valley iCampus, in a press release, said that it had closed lease and renewal deals “totaling 337,589 square feet on campus, with a value of more than $40 million,” between August 2021 and Dec. 2022.
“The campus is quickly becoming the premier address in the New York tri-state region,” said Schwartz. “We’re excited to take this momentum into 2023 and build upon our success in creating a community where innovation, ingenuity and industry can thrive.”
Additional updates include:
Urban Electric Power, Inc., a company that is revolutionizing the traditional alkaline battery (e.g., double A) by transforming it into a powerful rechargeable battery, renewed its lease for 36,048 rentable square feet of manufacturing space.
Auro Vaccines, LLC, renewed its 17,500 square feet of laboratory space. Auro Vaccines is a clinical-stage vaccine development company pioneering a major evolutionary step in the design and development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines for infectious diseases. Andrew Tarvin of Tarvin Commercial Real Estate Services represented Auro Vaccines.
Olaplex, Inc. expanded its footprint and renewed its 4,537 square feet of laboratory and office space. Olaplex is a technology-driven beauty company. Rob Lella of Colliers represented the landlord.
