Sharp Electronics Corp. has sold its U.S. headquarters building in Mahwah to the real estate investment firm Sitex Group for $38 million, but plans to stay on the site by leasing back the space for 12 years.
The sale includes the 147,000-square-foot Sharp headquarters building, a 350,000-square-foot warehouse and 23 open acres, according to Brian Milberg, a principal with the Sitex Group, which invests mostly in industrial property.
"We were drawn to the land and the warehouse, and the office building was a bonus," Milberg said. He said the company plans to market the 23 open acres as "build-to-suit" office or warehouse space.
Milberg called the property's location "phenomenal" - near the New York State line and the intersection of Route 17, Route 287 and the New York State Thruway. It had been on the market for about two years, said Dennis Gralla of Cresa NJ in Rutherford, a real estate broker who represented Sharp.
"Sharp is committed to New Jersey and will stay in New Jersey," Gralla said. Neither Gralla nor Milberg would reveal the sale price, but Costar, a company that tracks commercial real estate data, listed it as $38 million.
Sharp did not return calls seeking comment. The company is the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Sharp Corp. It has been in Mahwah since the 1980s.
The office building is completely occupied by Sharp, and the warehouse is largely rented by the discount retailer Amazing Savings, Milberg said.
Sitex, founded in 2001, has offices in Chicago, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach, Calif., and East Rutherford. It has been actively buying industrial space in North Jersey, Chicago, New York and Southern California.
In North Jersey, Sitex owns warehouse and industrial properties in Carlstadt, Teaneck, North Bergen, Moonachie, Teterboro, Secaucus, South Hackensack, Clifton, Rutherford, Mahwah, East Rutherford and Englewood. All were bought over the last four years, Milberg said.
The demand for warehouse spaces has heated up as more consumers shop on the Internet and have their purchases delivered to their homes.
"The transition to buying online means there's going to be fewer stores and more warehouses," Milberg said.