BASF Building Mt Olive / Morris Crossroads
Drove past this and around it the other day it looks so depressing that’s it still empty. Has anyone heard anything or plans for it ? How has a business not come here or how are these townships so not smart to be able to attract anyone?
Drew 
Caged Animal Anyone have a subscription to get past the pay wall?
https://www.newjerseyhills.com/mt_olive_chronicle/news/basf-property-in-mount-olive-sold-for-million-future-plans/article_2873ca67-30c6-5cfc-b289-31b4861f5892.html
I couldn’t find any other sites/info to confirm if this is still the latest news.
Mark Mc. That was a beautiful brick building and nice inside also. What happened to that company---did they go Chapter 11 or what?
Hackresident 
That is allI think they bailed out of their Rockaway location as well. That building is just too large for any company these day. Far cheaper to leave the state.
Don If you have any questions about what they're going to do with it, ask here:
http://www.matrixcompanies.com/
Public record says the price was $10mill as quoted. Quite a loss from the $23mill the previous owners paid that were operating it as the "Crossroads".
GC I should say GC! At one point that site had a 90 million dollar number attached to it.
If anyone wants to understand the challenges with this site read this report. I read this study a few years ago. A dinosaur indeed.
https://nnj.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2014/07/Final-Web-Version-ULI_TAPP_03.2014_Morris_Crossroads1.pdf
Greg Let me see if I got this right. BASF screwed up royally and passed their problem off to someone else who had it foreclosed and now it's up to local and state taxpayers to try and figure out a way to get this straightened out. I wonder how much of a bonus BASF execs were paid for being able to wiggle out of this mess and was BASF able to declare a loss on their taxes for this.
mac 
OnTheEdge BASF screwed up? They sold the building to an investor in 2006 and moved on. Unfortunately a variety of issues have plagued that site. The downed economy in 2009 and on, the vacancy rate of commercial properties in Northern NJ, the location of that facility, the size of it at one million square feet etc, etc.
The loss they would claim represents a minuscule fraction of a percent as BASF is the largest chemical company in the world with annual earnings in the 70 billion range. But as they simply moved and sold it that is moot.
With that said it would be nice to see the building in use again.
"I wonder how much of a bonus BASF execs were paid for being able to wiggle out of this mess and was BASF able to declare a loss on their taxes for this."
I'm sure there was a lot of accounting going in with the sale of the property, taxes, etc... but to put this in perspective a $50M property for a company the size of BASF ($6B in profits) is akin to an $833 expense for someone making $100K.
Even if they lost every penny on the deal, their corporate profits "paid" for it in 3 days. It was a minor blip, if that, on their books.
Who screwed up and took away here tax break after 10 years ??
I heard that was what drove them to leave...
steven Actually BASF built a brand new headquarters in Florham Park...mount olive was too far out in the boonies
Wasn't too far, just too big. Back in the day (c. 1989), BASF made the decision to build a new larger HQ in Mt Olive (remember all the fuss over the BASF deal to trade basf property for state property?) BASF wanted a large facility in order to move the HQ of Knoll Pharmaceutical - then in separate building in E. Hanover, into the new building along with BASF HQ. Then a few years later BASF sold all its Pharma business to Abbot and so half the Mt Olive was emptied and BASF then decided to move back to its old HQ. A few years later they built the newer HQ in Florham Park. As the boys say, "it's just business" At least they stayed in NJ. Was in the building a number of times for meetings and it is (was) a 1st class facility, not much use for corporate campuses now though.
If Hackettstown blundered this ratable it would have bankrupt the town. Good thing Mt. Olive can make it up by all the residential taxes and large town footprint. Another good job Jersey done right!
Weird I see the heat is on as there is smoke every morning on 80 coming from a pipe. I also see a few vans parked and lights on in different places in the building . Not sure what’s going on
Not weird, it is thankfully well-maintained. Vans are probably security. Might be a good site for a data center...
iJay From the mt olive mayor The building was recently purchased by a company called Matrix. Waiting for them to come in to provide the Town as to what they plan to do with the site.
Several years ago, the Land Use Institute came in and did a study as to how the property should be used. They determined it should be mixed use, residential and commercial.
Interesting. Here's a Matrix Development Group operating in NJ; no site listing yet though: http://www.matrixcompanies.com/
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."
strangerdanger It shows as available for lease through Matrix.
However it states "This space is vacant and not actively available". I'm not sure what that means.
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/3000-Continental-Dr-N-Mount-Olive-NJ/4277952/
Could mean that an interested party is either conducting serious due diligence ( deposit) or spending on architectural studies ($$$) and has a specific time frame to render a final decision.
Stymie Bottom line...... someone owns it and someone also pays taxes for an empty building.
fire251 If someone owns it, why would It just be left empty, i drove past it the other day and the only thing there was a truck driver sleeping next to his truck in the parking lot
jay “If someone owns it, why would It just be left empty...”
Because it’s hard to find a tenant that can afford a 6 (or more) figure monthly rent?
My understanding is Rockefellor investment group own from day one....nice tax break for them if true .
I went through it to turn around and saw some white jeeps in the loading docks multiple times. Anybody know what they're doing??
nathank Glad it’s not our problem in Hackettstown based on the tax dollars of that place but being how close and driving past it on 80 daily it’s a real shame no one can turn it into like a senior living facility or even beg some company to come in. The mayor of mt olive should honestly call amazon and beg them to turn into offices or any large company. It’s been empty for close to 20 years. Let’s do something I’m sure the interior does need a serious redo based on whoever buys it but the land and outside are still really beautiful. I would beg amazon, adp , heck they should have given it to Honeywell for free just to keep them in the state
Give it to Honeywell just to keep them in the state? LMAO. Heck a free million square foot facility for the taking would have every corporation in the nation lined up. Why not toss in a lifetime property tax abatement and free utilities too. LOL. Just joking of course.
I too would like to see the property no longer vacant as well. I am certain the property taxes are up to date. Any ancillary income is lost naturally. As far as the little mayor from Mt. Olive having the ability or authority to lure a company to the site sounds like a tall order. Some of the most influential and connected commercial real estate developers on the east coast have and are involved in that property. I would place a better chance of success with them. But clearly that site is a tough sell.
There has been a few studies and such on how to best utilize the space including making it suitable for several office suites. Again a tall order for that particular site.
I was getting many of the various information packets for awhile showcasing the property. I have not received the latest however. I'm not sure who has the listing at this point.
Doesn't Rockefeller Group own the development ?
I believe they have their own real estate group..
The Rock Group does not own the former BASF site. They created the International Trade Center and helped broker the addition of the BASF property.
They are a real estate development group.
https://www.rockefellergroup.com/
sadly there was an old stone structure that was "gone' one day when they 1started the development as well as a house ( that was occupied ) , that just disappeared one week.
I used to go in o the railroad beds for firewood access to dead trees .
Interesting how things have changed over the years, so much forest was removed to put that whole development area in .
State law on decommissioned industrial property provides that a company cannot leave a vacant building unattended. They must provide passive/active security and maintain some building systems to prevent it becoming an attractive nuisance.
Imagine if Mars left, H'town would be bankrupt. "Let's all pray for Snickers" Forrest Mars
One-Eyed Poacher Hmmm maybe companies in the city wanting to move out ... yes I also believe housing will go up as people to want to stay away from populated areas
LibertyThinker I can’t imagine the taxes being paid on that property or who is paying it (No, I didn’t read the whole thread so my apologies if it’s been talked about.)
The property has an owner. The taxes etc are in order. All is fine fine in Mt.Olive as far as that vacant but not derelict property goes.
Suburban complexes are ideal posy COVID-19. Large parking lots, multiple entry points, etc. City buildings shoot upwards and create bottlenecks like elevator lobbies. Suburban building shoot outwards. Plus its location off of route 80 in Morris County, albeit feet away from Warren county.
The large campus concept will fall by the wayside moving forward in the short term and more than likely for the long term. Work from home success and or failure will dictate what happens in post COVID world. Commercial real estate could be in for a long road ahead.
CraftBeerBob 16 years that property has remained empty. A shame. Sure Mt. Olive tax rates chased BASF out of there after only occupying it for just a few years. Beautiful building. Great location.
For no prospective tenant, something has to stink.
It’s a shame they can’t at this point find someone to turn the building into apartments something? Such a nice campus.
John Doe, how is it a great location in the eyes of a corporation without manufacturing? Why do you think Mars is moving corporate to Jersey City?
How could the taxes chased BASF out?
Huge multinational Corp.
Property taxes were zero consideration.
A monument to corporate waste and greed . I visited there around 20 years ago
and it had an atrium in the lobby with trees and such . It also had it's own 4 teller bank , it's own medical department with doctor and nurses , two cafeteria lines , and an executive cafeteria up high overlooking the auditorium . It was so big new employees would get lost then call security to give them their badge number so they could give them directions . At one point in the mid-90s when they were growing after acquiring Knoll Pharmaceuticals they supposedly hired close to 1500 office workers . People can say do this or that with it , but the heating and electric bill would be prohibitive let alone the property taxes .
97XBAM Stymie is right, BASF could probably buy Mount Olive if they wanted to. The whole dump!
They moved out of that building shortly after settling a lawsuit for drug price fixing from their Knoll Pharmaceutical division .Their plans of expanding further into that over sized building went down the tubes with getting a new CEO and selling Knoll . On the other side of the coin their Washington chemical plant by the inspection station is still going strong after being slated for closure in 2015 .
That description that 97XBAM wrote reminded me of when I was working as a temp secretary in the early 80's and I was sent to the AT&T building somewhere off 206 near Bedminster (I think). Huge office building with atriums & trees & pools & stuff. Miles of halls & offices. Underground parking lot. I was amazed. Whatever happened to that place? Is it still being used? They paid me to basically sit at a desk all day, doing nothing. I couldn't believe it, but I was very young and it was first foray into the office/business world. I didn't like the commute so eventually found work closer to home.
Lonesome Dove Lonesome Dove, The AT&T Bedminster complex off 206 is still actively staffed. It used to be the AT&T headquarters until several years ago when the company was acquired by SBC and headquarters was moved to Austin, TX.
BC I worked out of that building in the late 90's. It was an amazing place to work and I've never been in a nicer building. Such a shame that it was basically abandoned. Lot's of great memories there!
97XBAM I haven't been up to Washington in a while, you say they are not closing? I know they stopped getting Rail Service, do you think they might start that back up or just use trucks?
Mr 4paws I don't know Mr.4paws . I just heard from a friend a few months ago ,who talked to someone who works at the Washington BASF location that their plans to relocate that facility down south (Louisiana I think?) hit a snag .So it seems they still plan to close down that site , just a matter of when .
Hospitals today are better built from scratch. Maybe post covid some companies can use it under the new paradigm of the worker rarely going to the office?
Stymie is right, BASF could probably buy Mount Olive if they wanted to. The whole dump!
They could afford the land and property, but not the taxes.
dodgebaal Actually the AT&T building being referenced with the indoor atrium, trees, waterfall was the Bridgewater Complex, not the Bedminster one. Pretty glass building on Rte 206. It's owned by some other company now.
I see there is a "demo sale" to be conducted there soon. I have not heard what the disposition of the property is now. Perhaps someone here knows. Otherwise I gather a search of recent LUB minutes from Mount Olive will provide a clue.
https://www.estatesales.net/NJ/Mount-Olive/07828/3774747
It appears the entire building, other structures, pavement as well as that huge parking garage et al will be removed-38 acres of disturbance as they call it. A warehouse will be constructed in that location.
According to the plans submitted at this point it will consist of:
585,000 SF building
27,500 SF office
163 Car Parking Spaces
143 Banked Car Parking Spaces
107 Loading Docks
142 Trailer Parking Spaces
That is one large structure....
Holy cripes, that IS a large complex! It was only a matter of time I suppose. Just a shame they couldn’t repurpose the existing structure(s).
I worked at the AT&T headquarters building in Basking Ridge for a surreal 10 months back in the 1980's. Sounds like the BASF building was similar in that it had so many services for the workers. Eventually they closed the Basking Ridge site after the sale to SBC and it was empty for years before it was purchased by Verizon. That amused me because Verizon was our big competitor, at least for the division where I worked.
Wendy 38 acres of disturbance will not be good for the nearby Musconetcong River. When the BASF building was under construction the river was muddy for a few days. Does anyone have a link to the planning board information?
Basking Ridge is an amazing place, we called it Xanadu. It's like Disney came to business. Sunk into the Earth with "pods" handing from the core like a inground space station. Made me laugh, but being "earthy" and green, when the VPs came in by copter, they ran into nature by the way of geese on the grass. But they couldn't mandate cement, so the labs came back and put in a cement grid so the grass grew like lawn, the geese avoided the grid, and the VP patent leathers never got goosed. Murray Hill rivalled it from a generation before. They used copper from it's roof to redo Lady Liberty. And others too, gotta love a great building. BSF was never that.
Babbit When the AT&T NYC office moved, Basking Ridge got "Golden Buns".
Nothing compares with Golden Buns.
https://www.mrlocalhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/golden-boy-basking-ridge2-nj-mr-local-history.jpg
https://www.mountolivetwpnj.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4736/f/agendas/pb_22-29_3000_continental_dr_site_plans.pdf
Above is the link for the warehouse development plans for 3000 Continental Drive.
for GC, from WIKI, and me (points to the poet :>) "Spirit of Communication is the formal name for the statue by Evelyn Beatrice Longman originally called Genius of Telegraphy. The statue has been the symbol of AT&T (and also the former Western Electric) since their commission was completed in 1916. It is also known informally as the Golden Boy statue and formerly as Genius of Electricity.
Commissioned for 195 Broadway in New York City, the sculpture has followed AT&T to other sites in New York and New Jersey over the years. In 2009, the statue was relocated to AT&T's current corporate headquarters in downtown Dallas, Texas, U.S. As of 2022, the statue is located outside in the AT&T Discovery District in Downtown Dallas."
And now you know the rest of the boring :>)
It was originally put in the very front of the rotunda at Basking Ridge, situated high enough from the library that its shiny bare back side was quite prominent. Oh, it's "Golden Buns" for sure.. ;-)
Down it goes to be replaced with a warehouse .
https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/morris-county/2023/11/13/former-basf-office-mount-olive-nj-route-80-demolished/71494670007/
Correct. I posted that info above in August. It will be quite a structure.
The plans are available to look at on the Mt.Olve town site.
https://www.mountolivetwpnj.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4736/f/agendas/pb_22-29_3000_continental_dr_site_plans.pdf
Leave a Reply
To comment on this topic, fill out the form below. If you would like to comment directly to one person, you may click on the envelope next to the posters name if they provided their email.