Massive Onyx Equities Headquarters Planned For Summit

SUMMIT, NJ — Real estate company JLL, which has been retained by Onyx Equities, LLC, plans to redevelop an 11-building office headquarters within walking distance of downtown Summit.

Led by Ed Shim and Chris Townsend of New York City-based design, architecture and planning firm HLW, new renderings of the 46-acre campus, illustrate two potential redevelopment concepts.

The headquarters, called Summit East, is located on 80-90 Morris Avenue where the pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb is currently located.

"The first option embraces the great outdoors by razing the nine interior buildings to maximize green recreational space, encouraging community engagement across a dynamically programmed great lawn," according to JLL.

The second option redevelops the nine interior buildings into one 190,000 square foot modern office building with "ample landscaping and parking."

Both concepts maintain the two new Class A buildings currently on site, according to JLL.

“This opportunity offers two of the best Class-A office buildings in the state, a superior location walkable to one of the most desirable downtowns in New Jersey with a highly educated labor pool, exceptional infrastructure, and unbeatable commuting options,” said DJ Venn, executive vice president of asset management for Onyx Equities.

“Summit East is a move-in ready headquarters location with a unique
opportunity to be reconfigured to meet the market’s demand,” Venn said.

One of the Class-A buildings is a 191,448 square foot, two-story office property with a four-story parking garage. Built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold specifications in 2015, it features a cafeteria with a two-level seating area, conference space, 56 meeting rooms and a skylighted atrium with collaborative work areas.

The second building boasts a 17,000 square foot fitness center, private executive red eye travel relaxation suites, a 5,000 square foot ballroom and catering kitchen, over 20,000 square feet of executive conference space, four 20-foot waterfall features, two skylighted atriums with collaborative work areas and video conferencing infrastructure throughout.

JLL said the remaining nine interconnected buildings include various one-to-three-story office, storage and administrative spaces set within landscaped grounds and outdoor seating.

These nine buildings serve as the potential redevelopment site as shown in HLW’s renderings.

More amenities on the Onyx Equities campus include an electric bike station with 10 entry points to the Summit Park Line and a brand new 1.2 mile pedestrian path that connects the development with downtown Summit.

Centrally located, Summit East is one mile from Routes 24 and 78, 15 minutes from Newark International Airport via the Garden State Parkway and easily accessible to Midtown Manhattan via NJ Transit.

The property’s corporate neighbors include Nokia, BMS, KPMG, McKinsey & Co. and Morgan Stanley, among others.

Managing director Blake Goodman said the site was previously owned by a life science company who invested over $200 million in capital improvements across the campus.

In related news, residents of Summit have expressed immense frustration with the Broad Street West redevelopment project that is planned for the city. Plans for this redevelopment are currently on pause, as the council is reevaluating the project due to uproar from residents about the building's size and scale, as well as lack of parking.

In June, members of the group "Residents for Summit" protested the Broad Street West redevelopment ahead of a six-hour council meeting.

Read more: Summit Residents Protest Broad St. West Design Ahead Of 6-Hour Meeting

According to the company, JLL is a leader in the northern/central New Jersey commercial real estate market and assists clients from offices in Parsippany, Iselin (Metropark), Princeton, Morristown and East Rutherford.

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