Richardson celebrates Ibis Plaza at 25

The Ibis Team: George Geiger, building manager, Chris Jerjian, president of Ibis, and Michael Pratico Jr. of Richardson Commercial Realty, celebrate Ibis’ 25th anniversary. Photo by Chris Sturgis. By Chris Sturgis When Chris Jerjian was an economics student in England, he never dreamed he would be in charge of his parents’ office park in Hamilton. Yet, 25 years later, he is president of Ibis Plaza Office Suites, the 120,000-square-foot office complex his parents, Ed and Mary, bought in 1982. The original purchase was brokered by Michael Pratico, Sr. of Richardson Commercial Realty, who has passed the job of bringing in tenants to his son, Michael Jr. Keeping the plaza profitable was very easy for the first ten years. The state of New Jersey rented both buildings for various offices. Then, in 1992, the state decided to help revive the Trenton economy by moving state workers back into Trenton office space. Trenton’s gain was Ibis’ loss. Ibis fought back with a new strategy, breaking the large buildings 52,000-square-feet and 68,000-square-feet into small suites outfitted for small businesses. The sought-after sizes of 5,000- to 10,000-square-feet have given way to 1,000- to 5,000-square foot complexes, he said. The market currently favors move-in ready spaces over those that are tailored to a particular tenants’ needs, he said. Filling both buildings after the state departure didn’t happen overnight, Jerjian said. He might consider leasing to the state again, but would never lease the entire complex to a sole tenant. “In the long run, we were better off,” he said. Ibis is about to go through a similar upheaval, he said. The plaza’s largest single tenant, CHN, a managed health care organization, is planning a move to the American Metro Center because the company was purchased by Consolidated Service Group Inc. of Lansdale, Pa., spokeswoman Kaitlin Welch said. The CHN departure leaves Ibis with 45,000-square-feet to fill. Pratico said he’s not worried. “Chris is very aggressive about keeping up with the market, the prices and what other buildings are doing,” he said. Ibis currently leases for $18.75 per square foot plus utilities.