re-nj.com
Original Article

Less than a month after hosting a forum for local residents and other stakeholders, the former Hoffmann-LaRoche campus will welcome aspiring commercial real estate professionals.

The 116-acre campus in Nutley and Clifton will be home to this year’s NAIOP New Jersey CRE Collegiate Case Study Competition. Slated for April 4, the event will bring together students from the commercial real estate programs of Monmouth, Rutgers and Villanova universities, who will offer their own vision for redeveloping the site.

The program is also open to industry professionals and will include remarks from Gene Diaz of Prism Capital Partners, the developer and owner of the property, along with Nutley Mayor Joseph Scarpelli and Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi. The event will also feature presentations by the student from each school and the awarding of a $5,000 check to the winning team.

It will be another opportunity for industry professionals to see the former Roche campus, which Prism has since renamed ON3 as part of its mixed-use redevelopment plans. All that remains of the sprawling complex is a collection of trophy-quality office and research and development buildings totaling more than 1.2 million square feet, offering a location less than 10 miles from Manhattan.

Prism has already attracted the biotech firm Modern Meadow to the complex, while the Hackensack Meridian Seton Hall School of Medicine and a group of Seton Hall University health sciences programs are set to move in over the next several months. But the firm’s broader vision includes a mixed-use neighborhood supported by retail, restaurants, residential space and other services.