First ground-up Flex by JLL space will open in Q2 2023

NEW JERSEY, Sept. 15, 2022 – JLL announced today that Flex by JLL, its enterprise-grade flexible space solution, has entered into a leasing agreement with Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (“MUST”) for the opening of a 15,407-square-foot flex office and coworking space at 500 Plaza Dr. in Secaucus, New Jersey. This opening will mark the first official ground-up Flex by JLL space to come to market in the U.S.

The Flex by JLL space will offer flexible private offices, coworking space, meeting rooms, team suites and virtual offices to organizations and residents in the region. The space includes ergonomic furniture, Tier 1 fiber broadband internet access, interactive client portals to book meeting rooms digitally, an on-site hospitality team and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment.

Its location within 500 Plaza Dr., an 11-story office property situated within Harmon Meadow, offers tenants a variety of on-site amenities and provides convenient access to the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 3 and surrounding hotels, restaurants and retail.

“We are excited for our new Flex by JLL location at 500 Plaza,” said Jacob Bates, Head of Flex by JLL. “This location will include both coworking space and enterprise flex suites. Completed by our Flex by JLL design team, the space will incorporate components of our evolving environments and flexible architecture design ethos, offering flex tenants and members the ability to flex the built environment to their physical needs. This partnership between MUST and Flex by JLL creates a symbiotic relationship and allows Flex by JLL to manage the flexible spaces while MUST maintains control of the space, experience, tenants and revenue.”

“We believe Flex by JLL to be the ideal operator for MUST to partner with at this stage, given the existing relationships between the two parties spanning facility management, capital markets brokerage, leasing and development services. We believe this partnership will generate accretive, risk-adjusted returns that are superior to the alternative of pursuing traditional leases in the space,” said Tripp Gantt, Chief Executive Officer of Manulife US REIT.

After the space’s opening in Q2 of 2023, Flex by JLL will have the opportunity to lease an additional 20,451 square feet in two phases within the year.

JLL’s 2,300 property management experts in the U.S. provide comprehensive real estate services in more than 3,800 buildings totaling more than 745 million square feet.

Flex by JLL is an enterprise-grade flexible space solution that creates value for investors and is rooted in market due diligence, occupier demand and asset strategy. Flex by JLL creates and manages custom flexible space programs that are tailored to an asset’s tenants and market dynamics; investors can own and maintain control of the entire tenant experience within their building as well as the flex site’s revenue streams and value.

Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (“Manulife US REIT”) is the first pure-play U.S. office REIT listed in Asia. It is a Singapore listed REIT established with the investment strategy principally to invest, directly or indirectly, in a portfolio of income-producing office real estate in key markets in the United States (“U.S.”), as well as real estate-related assets. MUST’s portfolio comprises 12 freehold office properties in Arizona, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia and Washington D.C. The current portfolio has an aggregate net lettable area of 5.4 million sq ft and is valued at US$2.2 billion as at 31 December 2021.

Manulife is part of a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. The Sponsor operates as John Hancock in the U.S. and as Manulife in other parts of the world, providing a wide range of financial protection and wealth management products, such as life and health insurance, group retirement products, mutual funds and banking products. The Sponsor also provides asset management services to institutional customers. Manulife Financial Corporation is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Philippine Stock Exchange. 

The Manager is Manulife US Real Estate Management Pte. Ltd., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sponsor. The Manager’s key objectives are to provide Unitholders with regular and stable distributions and to achieve long-term growth in DPU and NAV per Unit, while maintaining an appropriate capital structure.