With the new University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro being built less than a mile south, it is possible that the new owners of the Princeton Forrestal Village complex will benefit from the demand for medical office space nearby.
The 550,000-square-foot complex at Route 1 and College Road has been sold for $55 million to Investcorp International. The office and shopping park went up for sale last May by the Gale Company and GE Partners, which had bought the property for $39.6 million in 2003.
Investcorp is a New York-based investment firm that finances and buys commercial properties. According to the firm’s website it owns about 200 properties worldwide, valued at roughly $10 million.
Jeffrey Dunne of CB Richard Ellis, one of the three members of CBRE’s New York Institutional Group who represented the seller, said that Princeton Forrestal Village “should provide Investcorp with substantial in-place income” between its existing leases and the potential for converting some of the village’s retail suites to medical office use.
When the hospital opens, probably by the end of this year, Dunne says there likely will be increased demand for medical office space nearby. There already is one such office on the village grounds, Surgical Specialists at Princeton, a 12,400 square-foot surgical center based at 136 Main Street.
Forrestal Village, today a collection of restaurants, retail outlets, and corporate offices, first opened in 1986, primarily as a mall for upscale retail outlet stores. The village underwent $8 million in capital improvements in 2007, and over the past several years has maintained a fairly consistent tenant list, including restaurants Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Tre Piani, and Salt Creek Grille, and Can Do Fitness. However, there are roughly 56,000 square feet of vacant space.
The Westin Hotel is not part of the sale.
Kevin Welsh and David Gavin of CB Richard Ellis also represented the seller. Welsh, Dunne, and Gavin also procured the buyer.
