Medical Weight Loss in Elmwood Park, NJ

The transformation of one of northern New Jersey’s most iconic industrial properties, the historic Marcal Paper property, which was destroyed by a fire in 2019, is now complete, according to a Monday announcement from Crow Holdings Development.

CHD announced the delivery of 25 Market St. in Elmwood Park, a 207,000-square-foot, Class A building. It was redeveloped by CHD in partnership with Atlas Holdings, which owns Marcal Paper, and worked closely with local stakeholders to create a distinctive design for the historic site.

Located with high visibility and direct access from Interstate 80, the brick façade and black window mullions were inspired by the former, 90-year-old warehouse. Large, translucent glass accent light boxes on the building’s exterior marry the classic elements with modern design and pay homage to the neon “Marcal” sign that long served as a local landmark.

“Everyone involved understood the value of this property and what finding its new best-and-highest use would mean for the community,” Clark Machemer, Crow Holdings Development’s senior managing director, said. “The fact that we have been able to bring this building online just five years after the fire is a tribute to Marcal and to the borough of Elmwood Park, which provided tremendous support for this effort to revitalize the area and stimulate economic growth.”

The JLL team of Ignatius Armenia, Rob Kossar, Chris Hile, Ryan Milanaik and David Knee is serving as exclusive leasing agent for 25 Market St.

“This state-of-the-art facility checks every box for meeting current demand in the northern New Jersey marketplace,” Armenia said. “At just over 200,000 square feet, 25 Market St. is the ideal size for a variety of end-users seeking the best features of modern warehouse design and unparalleled access to the area’s extensive regional highway network.”

The single-story, energy-efficient building features build-to-suit office space; ceiling heights with up to 40 feet of clearance; 56 trailer stalls; 32 exterior loading docks; two drive-in doors; and a parking lot capable of accommodating 200 vehicles. The property is further distinguished by its visibility and proximity to a confluence of major roadways, immediately off a four-way interchange of I-80 and offering exceptional access to the Garden State Parkway, and routes 46, 21 and 3.

“The completion of this development fulfills our desire to see the property destroyed by the fire continue to benefit our borough, our county and our state for many years to come,” Rob Baron, CEO and president of Marcal Paper, which still operates adjacent to 25 Market St., said. “We are grateful that, in just a few years, what was once the site of a terrible event has been transformed into a new economic development opportunity for our community. We look forward to welcoming new neighbors to this incredible spot in New Jersey.”

Family-owned and -operated Inserra Supermarkets Inc. has held the grand opening of its newest supermarket, the ShopRite of Elmwood Park. The 60,000-square-foot store, located at 180 Broadway in Elmwood Park, N.J., made its official debut on Friday, Nov. 17.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Inserra Supermarkets Inc. presented a $10,000 check to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. The Inserra family also donated $5,000 in gift cards to the Elmwood Park Food Bank and 40 turkeys to St. Leo’s Church in Elmwood Park for its annual Thanksgiving baskets.

[Read more: “RoNetco Supermarkets Debuts ShopRite in North Jersey”]

The new state-of-the-art store features signature specialty Inserra Supermarket departments, among them a from-scratch fresh bakery, stocked with store-made bread, cakes and pastries; Antoinette’s Kitchen, featuring a hot bar and fresh prepared meals; Patsy’s Butcher meat department, offering trained butchers; and full-service seafood, deli and floral departments.

“We are proud and excited to welcome customers to the ShopRite of Elmwood Park,” said Lawrence Inserra Jr., chairman and CEO of Mahwah, N.J.-based Inserra Supermarkets Inc. “It has been an honor to serve New Jersey shoppers since 1954, and this new store, along with our donations to local organizations, demonstrates our commitment to our neighbors. We thank our customers for their patience as we prepared the new store.”

The ShopRite of Elmwood Park also features Fresh to Table, an in-store space providing food-to-go options and ingredients for shoppers seeking a one-stop-shop meal experience. Customers can choose from ready-to-cook items (Prep & Eat), ready-to-heat and -serve items (Heat & Eat), and ready-to-eat meals (Grab & Eat). The multipurpose space also offers ShopRite’s Own Brand products, including the Bowl & Basket and Wholesome Pantry lines.

The new store additionally boasts a fresh modern design with new store signage, LED lighting and refrigerated cases that are environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

Founded in 1954 by Patsy Inserra as a privately held family business, Inserra Supermarkets today belongs to the retailer-owned supermarket cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. Inserra Supermarkets operates 23 ShopRite stores and two Price Rite Marketplace stores, with New Jersey locations in Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties, as well as four stores in New York’s Rockland County.

Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern comprises nearly 50 members that independently own and operate 360-plus supermarkets under the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage and Fairway Market banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Together with its member companies, Wakefern employs nearly 80,000 people. The company is No. 29 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

ShopRite of Elmwood Park, N.J.

Elmwood Park Mayor Robert Colletti, local dignitaries and community stakeholders joined Crow Holdings Development to celebrate the grand opening of 25 Market St. this week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for CHD’s new, 207,000-square-foot, Class A commercial building marked a new beginning for the site, which for nine decades served as home to the iconic Marcal Paper warehouse before it was destroyed by a fire in January 2019.

“We are happy to welcome Crow Holdings Development as a conscientious and considerate partner that has brought new revenue and beauty to our community,” Colletti said. “Their commitment became increasingly apparent throughout the project’s planning stages. All parties agreed on a comprehensive plan that included a creative building façade along with winding sidewalks, village lighting and an impressive ‘Welcome to Elmwood Park’ sign. True to their word, all of this came to fruition.”

CHD’s Clark Machemer, senior managing director, told ROI-NJ last month that the building’s specs are so impressive, it should be considered a trophy industrial building.

Machemer credited the successful redevelopment of the 12-acre property to the borough’s partnership and its understanding that commercial development can serve as an economic engine for communities.

“From the start, we received tremendous support for this project and shared a focus on revitalizing the area,” Machemer said. “The resulting transformation has introduced a commercial use opportunity befitting of its trophy location — one reflective of the history of the site and surrounding area.”

The single-story building features classic architecture with an attractive brick exterior and black window mullions inspired by the historic warehouse that made the site a local landmark. Large, translucent glass accent light boxes on the building’s exterior marry classic elements with modern design and pay homage to the neon “Marcal” sign well-known to travelers passing by the highly visible property on Interstate 80.

25 Market St.’s exceptional location, immediately off I-80’s Exit 61, offers unparalleled proximity to a confluence of major roadways. It also provides easy access to routes 46, 21 and 3, as well as the Garden State Parkway. Ready for immediate occupancy, the energy-efficient building features build-to-suit office space and 40-foot clear ceiling heights, as well as 56 trailer stalls, 32 exterior loading docks with two drive-in doors, and parking for 200 vehicles.

The JLL team of Ignatius Armenia, Rob Kossar, Chris Hile, Ryan Milanaik and David Knee is serving as CHD’s exclusive leasing agent for 25 Market St.

Machemer feels 207K sq. ft. building on former Marcal site has eye-catching appeal

By

Tom Bergeron(Elmwood Park)

-

February 26, 2024

The specs of the property — which are all anyone ever seems to want when it comes to industrial real estate — are impressive:

Then there’s the easy access to Interstate 80, Garden State Parkway, Route 46, New Jersey Turnpike — all of northern New Jersey and New York, in fact.

Clark Machemer, the senior managing director in the Industrial Group of Crow Holdings Development, prefers another number: 150,000.

That’s the number of bricks that were used to give the modern building an old-time feel. A building Machemer feels is unlike any other in its asset class.

“Trophy doesn’t get used with industrial buildings,” he said. “I would dare say that this is a trophy industrial building. I’d even pause to call it industrial — it’s just a trophy building in New Jersey.”

The building sits on the spot that for decades was the iconic home of Marcal Paper in Elmwood Park — before it was destroyed by a fire more than five years ago.

On Tuesday, Machemer and the Crow team will show it off for a brokers’ open house.

Yes, despite being in the heart of North Jersey, it remains unoccupied. Machemer is confident it won’t stay that way for long.

“Our goal is a single tenant — and I think there’s a strong demand for that size range in this area,” he said.

Machemer said he doesn’t have a sector in mind.

“That’s the beauty of northern New Jersey, there’s such a diversity of tenants,” he said.

Machemer said he hopes it will be one that recognizes the uniqueness of the location and of the building.

“It’s right off of I-80,” he said. “I think the visibility is unmatched.”

Machemer admits Crow spent more than it needed to on the building. But he feels the extra touches not only will pay for themselves, but potentially start a new trend for industrial: It’s time to give industrial buildings the same touches that other classes have, he said.

“The plans that were approved were not for a brick building, it was your traditional industrial precast building,” he said. “People ask, ‘Did the town make us do this?’

“They didn’t. This was a decision that we, at Crow Holdings, solely made.”

It was a decision that looks back — and forward — Machemer said.

“Some of the oldest buildings in the state are in and around this area because of the Great Falls and the economic engine that came out of that,” he said. “We’re proud that the building that we built is reflective of the history of not only the site, but also the surrounding area.

“We felt that it was only responsible to create a building that some way could perhaps replicate what was there, given it was such a visible building, an iconic building for those traveling on I-80.”

Machemer feels it only makes sense for the buildings to reflect the rising square-foot cost of industrial.

“If you go back 15 years or so, industrial buildings were $75 a foot,” he said. “The buildings today are approaching $500, if not more.

“The industry just didn’t move along with the values. We were building better incrementally, but we felt it was time to take a big leap forward. And we thought this location justified it.”

Machemer hopes the trophy quality of the building will help Crow with future buildings, as it will show the Class A quality it can bring to industrial.

“Industrial buildings are usually hidden or heavily landscaped,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

The building already is getting noticed.

A media push a few weeks back — when the building was first completed —brought calls and comments from people outside of the area, if not the state.

“They wanted to know why we did and how we did it,” he said. “Some said it was a look that may be right for their communities.”

Then, there’s the notice it’s getting from I-80.

Among the upgraded features are light boxes that reflect a glow from the building.

“It’s translucent glass,” he said. “It brings a lot of light into the building during the day, but, at night, it gives a slight little glow.”

Machemer is confident the look will make the property have the same landmark status that the Marcal plant had with its neon sign.

“That Marcal sign was so visible to people traveling on 80,” he said. “While we don’t have a name or a logo on the building yet, these light boxes hopefully will become a little beacon — a signal that you’re a certain number of minutes away from home or wherever you are going.”

Machemer said it’s part of the lure of the building.

“There’s a handful of buildings and logos and signage that define the I-80 corridor,” he said. “I think the occupant of this building is going to be among them.”

WOOD-RIDGE, NJ – Elmwood Park defeated Wood-Ridge, 52-44 in a NJIC non-divisional matchup in Thursday. Wood-Ridge drops to 10-11 overall while Elmwood Park is 15-7.

Ava Rizos had 13 points to lead Wood-Ridge, with Allison Gardella hitting four three pointers for 12 points. Wood-Ridge outshot Elmwood Park from behind the three-point arc, hitting seven three pointers to Elmwood Park’s four.

Fonquasia Slade led all scorers with 20 points for the Bombers, while Isabella Ramirez chipped in 11 and Tiara Duran added 10.

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