350,000-square-foot facility to be operational in April 2013
By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
ROBBINSVILLE McKesson Corporation, a major U.S. pharmaceutical distributor and healthcare information technology company, is building a 350,000-square-foot distribution center inside a redevelopment zone off Old York Road.
Known as Project Liberty, the warehouse/office facility under construction on a 22-acre lot in the Matrix Business Park is expected to open in April 2013 and has preliminary approvals to expand to 450,000 square feet in the future.
The Planning Board gave the green light to Project Liberty on Feb. 15, but the identity of the pharmaceutical distribution firm behind Liberty Real Estate NJ, LLC wasn’t publicly announced until last week.
”We’re excited to welcome McKesson into our community,” Mayor Dave Fried said on Sept. 20. “McKesson’s investment in Robbinsville Township will bring more jobs as well as add additional tax revenue.”
Township officials said the warehouse building will generate $2.5 million in revenue for the township in payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) over a five-year period and a total of $6.5 million over a 10-year span.
McKesson’s warehouse is located in the 176-acre Southeast Industrial Redevelopment Area, which is a portion of the 434-acre Matrix Business Park that the Township Council designated as an redevelopment zone in 2011.
State law allows municipalities to offer tax incentives to spur economic activity in designated redevelopment zones. In July, the Township Council authorized a five-year tax exemption to Liberty Real Estate NJ, LLC under a financial agreement that established the PILOT program.
Township Economic Development Director Tim McGough said Robbinsville had been in competition with several other states in the Northeast for Project Liberty, but McKesson picked Robbinsville for its new warehouse because of the economic incentives the township was able to offer.
”We’re extremely pleased to be working with Robbinsville Township on our new distribution center,” said Pete Pasqaule, senior vice president of McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical said in a news release issued by the township. “This new state-of-the-art facility will allow us to provide greater benefit to our customers in the northeast region while providing new employment opportunities in the region.”
There will be approximately 100 employees at the site per shift, according to the testimony presented to the township Planning Board in February. There also will be 25 loading docks, all located inside the climate-controlled warehouse building for security. No tractor-trailer trucks will remain outside.
Phase One includes 317,585 square foot of warehouse space, 32,445 square feet of office space and parking for 220 cars. Future expansion plans would increase the warehouse to 417,585 square feet and the office portion to 35,987 square feet as well as add an additional 240 parking spaces.
There will be no manufacturing or processing of pharmaceuticals at the site; it is an office/distribution facility only, according to the testimony given to the Planning Board earlier this year.
Headquartered in San Francisco, McKesson is currently ranked 14th on the Fortune 500. The McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical business unit supplies branded, generic and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals to more than 40,000 customers spanning retail chains, independent pharmacies, hospitals, health systems, integrated delivery networks and long-term care providers.
According to Fortune magazine, McKesson had $112 billion in sales in 2011. One-third of all medicines used in the United States “run through its pipeline” and more than 70% of the nation’s big market hospitals use McKesson’s technology to digitize prescriptions and patient medical records, the magazine said.
”The partnership with McKesson is yet another example of the excellent reputation Robbinsville has in the development community for being business friendly,” Mr. McGough said.

