Cushman & Wakefield Marketing Novartis Suffern Campus for Sale

Novartis pharmaceutical corporation, one of Rockland’s largest employers and taxpayers Novartis, made the decision to close its Suffern Campus in New York’s Rockland Countyt his year, planning to do so in phases.

The company announced this week it has tapped Cushman & Wakefield to market the property for sale. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut and Grace Braverman of the firm’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group (CMG) are handling the assignment.

The Suffern Campus is a top 10 in the nation pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging plants by volume, capable of producing billions of caplets and capsules per year. “For a pharmaceutical company, this offering would be very attractive because of all the equipment that is still in place and operating,” said Merin. “Currently, there are no operational facilities like this one available in the tri-state area. The cost to construct a similar campus would likely exceed $400 million.”

There is the potential to sell the facilities equipment separately making the site an attractive option for other investors or industrial users.

“While we are currently formalizing our marketing process, we are already seeing significant interest in this offering, particularly from international pharmaceutical firms. Overseas groups from India and China that could benefit from a location in the U.S. are among those showing interest.”

The site consists of three interconnected buildings totaling 585,000 square feet on 162 wooded acres, including a 55,000-square-foot office building featuring a 7,000-square-foot cafeteria, conference and meeting rooms and analytical laboratories.

Buildings include a 425,000-square-foot production facility, a 74,000-square-foot receiving/warehouse building; a 55,000-square-foot office/lab/amenity building, an electrical substation and a 24,000-square-foot energy center with excess boiler capacity and redundant chillers. Security is provided by a manned guard/gate house and camera monitoring throughout.

The existing buildings occupy approximately 50 acres of the 162-acre site, providing potential buyers with the potential to expand the campus or to introduce alternate uses.

County Executive Ed Day said, “Rockland County is excited to work closely with Cushman & Wakefield on securing the best occupant for the Novartis site. The sprawling campus offers many amenities in an ideal location for a new tenant to grow and expand in the Hudson Valley. My administration looks forward to partnering with the Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group and officials in Ramapo to make certain economic conditions are as favorable as possible.”

The property is located adjacent to I-287/87 (the New York Thruway), within minutes of Routes 59 and 17, 10 miles west of the Tappan Zee Bridge. It is 35 miles from New York City, and within 15 miles of numerous Northern New Jersey corporate campuses as well.

Based in East Rutherford, N.J., Cushman & Wakefield’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group specializes exclusively in investment sales of office, industrial, multifamily and retail properties throughout New Jersey, New York, Fairfield County, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The team has completed more than $17 billion worth of transactions since 2000, closing on $1.5 billion in 2013.