OVG Real Estate has expanded on plans to launch in the US, unveiling a deal with Normandy Real Estate Partners to acquire and retrofit Unilever's North Amercian headquarters in New Jersey.
The news comes days after the Dutch real estate developer announced it was opening an office in New York City to grow its business in North America.
Unilever has now selected a OVG-Normandy joint venture to spearhead the sale, redevelopment and expansion of its 325,000 ft2 North American headquarters at 700 Sylvan Avenue in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The building will subsequently be leased back to Unilever on an 18-year triple-net lease. Closing is expected prior to December 31st, 2016.
The 23-acre campus located along the Hudson River, just outside of New York City, has been a Unilever corporate office for over five decades. The sustainable retrofit should be complete in the fourth quarter of 2017.
'It is truly an honour to begin our journey in the United States by partnering with one of the world’s most respected companies. Unilever and OVG have more than a shared vision in common. We share our Dutch roots and a passion to always keep innovating to create positive impact in the world,' said Coen van Oostrom, founder and CEO of OVG Real Estate. 'This project gives us the golden opportunity to apply all that we’ve learned and mastered over the last few years in Europe, to the American context. I’m particularly looking forward to setting a new benchmark in sustainable building, along with Unilever and Normandy.'
The renovated headquarters will be both LEED and WELL certified and reduce energy consumption by 50%. Reductions in CO2 and water demand are also planned, while the developer will divert 75% of construction waste from landfill.
OVG said it would increase the size of the property by 28% to accommodate 1,600 employees in Englewood Cliffs.
