Martin F. Dowd

SJP Properties—Hain Celestial headquarters lease

Represented developer landlord SJP Properties in negotiating with food manufacturer Hain Celestial Group a lease of 40,000 square feet of space in Hoboken, New Jersey to serve as Hain Celestial’s global headquarters. The transaction included negotiating within a compressed timeframe terms for a complex early termination of a prior tenant’s lease, including restructuring that tenant’s sublease with another party. 

SJP Properties—Nokia Bell Labs lease

Represented developer/landlord SJP Properties in negotiating a long-term lease and development agreement with Nokia Bell Labs for its new 360,000-square-foot state-of-the-art research and development facility and office tower in the HELIX (Health + Life Science Exchange) innovation and technology hub being developed in downtown New Brunswick, NJ. This project represents the second building to be developed within the HELIX campus and is scheduled to break ground in 2025. 

Financial holding company—Headquarters sale, new lease

Represented a New Jersey-based financial holding company in negotiating the sale of its former headquarters in Livingston, New Jersey and a 15-year lease of a new 200,000-square-foot headquarters space in Morristown, New Jersey.

The Birch Group—Acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in the acquisition of the 42 story, 1.4 million-square-foot office building known as the Merrill Lynch Building, located at 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey, for $346 million. To finance the acquisition, we negotiated the assumption of a $250 million commercial mortgage-backed security loan and the structuring of both a preferred equity investment and common equity in excess of $120 million.

SJP Properties—Redevelopment/Leasing

Represented a joint venture between SJP Properties and Scotto Properties in the leasing to Sanofi, a global life sciences company, of an entire 260,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art office/retail building to be constructed in downtown Morristown, NJ. 

Woodmont Properties—Mixed-use development

Represented developer Woodmont Properties in negotiating a major long-term ground lease for the development of a 443-unit, luxury, mixed-use rental apartment complex in Princeton, New Jersey.

The Newark Museum of Art–Development project

Represented The Newark Museum of Art in negotiating a sale of land, a related ground lease, and a reciprocal operating agreement with a developer of an $85 million project that will develop two mixed-use apartment buildings with 250 apartments and ground floor retail space and 4,000 square feet of additional gallery space for the museum.

The Birch Group—Office buildings acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in acquiring two office buildings in Paramus, New Jersey. Our work included negotiating two ground leases with an investor as ground lessor to provide a portion of the capital for the acquisition.

The Birch Group—Acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in acquiring an 80-unit apartment complex for $42.85 million. 

Developer landlord—Lease

Negotiated for a developer landlord a lease with a multinational professional services company of 110,000 square feet of space at the developer’s planned mixed-use redevelopment project in Morristown, New Jersey.

The Birch Group—Office building acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in acquiring a 348,501-square-foot office property in Lake Success, New York for $62 million. 

The Birch Group—Office buildings acquisition

Represented privately owned commercial real estate investor, owner, and operator The Birch Group in acquiring four Class A office buildings totaling more than 840,000-square-feet of space in Short Hills, New Jersey for $255 million. Our work included negotiating three ground leases with an investor as ground lessor to provide a portion of the capital for the acquisition.