For the third year in a row, Bergman Real Estate Group has received highest honors from the Building Owners and Managers Association of New Jersey.
The 35-year-old real estate firm received the 2023 TOBY Award in the 100,000-249,999-square-foot category for Outstanding Building of the Year for 500 College Road E. in Princeton.
“Our team has done an outstanding job bringing new life to 500 College Road since we acquired the property in 2020,” Michael Bergman, CEO and president of Bergman Real Estate Group, said. “We are honored to be recognized by New Jersey’s real estate community for the extensive efforts we spearheaded to modernize and beautify this Class A office space.”
Bergman was presented with the award at Wednesday’s BOMA Awards Celebration, held at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange. Robin Juron, senior property manager, accepted the award on behalf of Bergman Real Estate Group.
“To receive a TOBY Award is a high honor in our industry,” Juron said. “It’s a welcome reminder that we’re succeeding at our mission to deliver the best-in-class office properties in highly desirable locations throughout New Jersey.”
Juron recognized the entire Bergman team, as well as the general contractor, Phoenix Construction, and the designers involved in the project, including Ware Macomb, CFI Furniture and Corporate Art, whose collective visions truly transformed the building.
The four-story, 160,000-square-foot office building at 500 College Road E. is located within the Princeton Forrestal Center development, comprising 2,200 acres of master-planned, mixed-use space. Within the Princeton Forrestal Center are nearly 200 businesses and several mixed-used spaces, including conference centers, hotels, office, dining, academic, retail, research and residential facilities, as well as 700 acres of preserved open space.
The building is located a half-mile from the interchange of Route 1 and College Road, placing it within minutes of Princeton University and downtown Princeton. Its location, along with the building’s impressive list of amenities, is what attracts signature tenants like Accurant Biotech Inc., a life sciences company that signed a 10-year lease in May 2023 — which at the time was one of the largest transactions in the Princeton area.
Bergman Real Estate Group spearheaded a multimillion-dollar capital improvement campaign in 2021, shortly after acquiring the building. The campaign included a newly redesigned four-story atrium lobby and major upgrades through all common areas. A full-service café with new equipment and furniture, an upgraded fitness center with locker rooms and showers, a lounge and game room with pool and shuffleboard tables, and a new tenant conference center were part of the capital improvement program as well. Recreational walking paths and a bike program are also available, so tenants can take advantage of the campus’s serene setting.
“Our modernization of the facility has led to tremendous tenant retention and the signing of 12 new tenant leases totaling 70,000 square feet,” Bergman said.
According to Bergman, the firm received TOBY Awards the last two years. In 2022, Bergman received a TOBY Award for 201 W. Passaic St./Sherbrooke Office Center II, a 65,000-square-foot, four-story office building located in Rochelle Park. The firm received a TOBY for Century Campus, a three-building office park comprising a 280,000-square-foot campus in Parsippany, in 2021.
“Our team remains committed to servicing our tenants with excellent management and forward-thinking vision for each property,” Bergman said.
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Author: Linda Lindner