Firm inks deal at Mid-Atlantic Corporate Center
By: Mike Mathis
CRANBURY Innophos Inc. didn’t have to look far when it sought a new headquarters.
It simply remained where it was, in the new Mid-Atlantic Corporate Center in Cranbury.
Innophos, an international producer and distributor of chemical grade phosphates, has signed two, six-year leases for nearly 36,000 square feet in two buildings.
Innophos’ products are used in a variety of food and beverage, consumer products, pharmaceutical and industrial applications.
Innophos is the first major tenant at the 83-acre office campus since Preferred Real Estate Investments Inc. of Conshohocken, Pa., purchased the property from Rhodia North America in March.
Matt Malatich, a broker for Preferred Real Estate Investments, declined to disclose the value of the lease with Innophos. The company’s corporate offices, located in one building totaling 17,480 square feet, will undergo interior renovations. A second building, with 17,711 square feet, will house food laboratories and test kitchens as part of Innophos’ research and development operations.
"We welcome Innophos as our ‘kick-off tenant’ with great excitement, knowing that this lease signing signifies a new beginning in the continuing redevelopment of Mid-Atlantic Corporate Center," Michael O’Neill, chairman and founder of Preferred Real Estate Investments, said in a statement. "This location is generating a great deal of interest because of its prime location and its R&D facilities."
Innophos was formed in August 2004 after specialty chemical manufacturer Rhodia divested itself of several businesses. Rhodia, which serves the automotive, electronics, fibers, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, consumer care, tire, and paint and coating markets, is moving its headquarters to the Cedar Brook Corporate Center in Cranbury. Rhodia also has leased new laboratory space in the Bridge Business Center in Bristol, Pa.
James Kurtz, information technology director of Innophos, said the new location satisfied the goal of Innophos officials to remain within a 10-mile radius of the former Rhodia headquarters and cause as little disruption as possible to business operations.
Innophos has plant operations in Nashville, Tenn.; Chicago Heights, Ill.; Waterway, Ill.; Geismar, La.; Port Maitland, Ontario; and Coatzacoalcos and Guanajuato, Mexico.
"In the end, it’s an attractive site for us," Mr. Kurtz said of the Mid-Atlantic Corporate Center. "It was really more about not having to pick up and move."
Built between 1957 and 1970, the Mid-Atlantic Corporate Center consists of 14 buildings totaling 346,917 square feet of office and laboratory space.
Mr. Malatich said Preferred plans to invest more than $5 million in the property by demolishing seven of the buildings and clearing 50 acres in the center of the site to accommodate a new pond and landscaping. The remaining buildings will undergo interior and exterior renovations, he said.
Redevelopment of the site is expected to begin later this month, when Rhodia relocates.
Mr. Malatich said negotiations are continuing with prospective tenants for space at the corporate center. A deal for a 10,000-square-foot space could be announced shortly, he said.
Mr. Malatich said the center is in a prime location; the property has 2,000 feet of highway frontage on the New Jersey Turnpike, and 160,000 vehicles pass by daily.
"It’s a pretty incredible location," Mr. Malatich said. "Our goal is to identify a corporate headquarters and put up a building for them right in front of the turnpike."

