H.I.G. Realty Partners and Lincoln Equities Group secured a $76 million loan to finance their acquisition and capital improvements of a life sciences campus in Hopewell, New Jersey.
The financing, from ArrowMark Partners, was confirmed by Lance Bergstein, acquisition and development officer with East Rutherford, New Jersey–based Lincoln Equities Group.
Newmark’s debt and structured finance team led by Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub executed the deal.
In June 2020, the partnership between H.I.G. and Lincoln acquired the 1.1 million-square-foot former Bristol Myers Squibb campus at 311 Pennington Rocky Hill Road for $32 million, according to property records.
Loan proceeds will be used to fund the cost of acquisition — which was initially funded with equity — as well as leasing and capital improvements for the project.
The Garden State has been known as the nation’s medicine chest, but that status has eroded in recent years as several major pharmaceutical companies left for Cambridge, Massachusetts, or San Francisco. But with the life sciences sector thriving even in the pandemic, New Jersey is poised to attract biotech firms funded by an influx of venture capital money, Bergstein said.
“We’re very bullish on the idea that midsize and mid-stage biotech companies that are in phase two, early phase three of clinical trials are going to be attracted to New Jersey for the price point and the availability of the workforce,” he said.
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In early 2020, Bristol Myers Squibb vacated the 266-acre campus and moved its operation to a new 650,000-square-foot facility in nearby Lawrence Township.
The Hopewell campus’ 266 acres features research and development facilities, offices, a data center and its own central utility complex that provides electricity, chilled water and steam.