Sustainable Building in New Jersey & Beyond

When Brookfield Properties looked to build new distribution centers in New Jersey, they wanted to work with a construction firm with the same sustainability goals. PREMIER Design + Build Group ultimately won the bid to build the Montrose 287 Logistics Center in South Plainfield, New Jersey, completing the project in December 2024. 

The new logistics center is part of a 112,191-square-foot industrial development featuring a 36-foot clear height, 27 dock doors, two drive-in doors, 98 car parking spaces, and an ESFR fire sprinkler system, along with a built-to-suit office area tailored to meet the tenant’s specific needs, PREMIER said in a press release about the project.

Construction on the project began in 2021, as the world was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to supply-chain challenges and long lead times, said Alexis Graziosetta-Tobias, vice president, project development for PREMIER.

“During procurement, our project management team was facing lead times significantly above average, in some cases nearly double what it typically is,” Tobias said. “Distribution and manufacturing within industrial construction was experiencing a large influx of new development throughout the Northeast.” PREMIER partnered with design professionals, trade vendors and key subcontractors to help mitigate some of the supply chain issues, proactively procuring items for the project and initiating contracts and awards in an efficient manner. 

Sustainability in the design was not a significant challenge, Tobias said. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification has been around since 1998, and most new construction today follows the standards laid out by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which oversees the certification. New construction is ranked on a set of points by a USGBC inspector. The highest level of sustainability is recognized with a platinum rating.

“We’ve all adapted to LEED,” Tobias said. “It’s just determining the level [of the project]. Are they platinum? Are they gold? … It really isn’t a challenge; it’s just having the contractor adapt to what that means so the developer can meet the certification.”

In line with LEED certification, the Montrose 287 Logistics Center features water-saving plumbing fixtures and energy-saving lighting. The building also features carbon-reducing concrete slabs. The concrete slab features a higher load-bearing capacity than traditional concrete, making it ideal for industrial applications. 

“The saw joints are at the column lines, so the quantity is minimal,” Tobias said. “It reduces up to 75% of silica materials, is only 6 inches thick, and uses chemical additives and fiberglass instead of traditional concrete. It saves more than 200,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere when compared to traditional slab on grade [construction].” 

PREMIER is a design-build company, meaning they can enter a project from the conceptual level. With the Montrose 287 Logistics Center, Brookfield already had a full plan and specs, but that didn’t change the way PREMIER approached the project, Tobias said. The project started in the conference room, she said, building trust with Brookfield, who is one of the largest developers in the U.S.  “From PREMIER’s executive team to field operations, early communication is key,” she said. “We have everybody buy into the plans. We open the lines of communication with the engineers and the architects very early on.”

PREMIER is on track to complete another property for Brookfield in 2025. The Union Distribution Center in Union, New Jersey, will be a 151,676-square-foot, Class A distribution facility, including 4,000-square-foot build-to-suit office space, 36-foot clear height, 28 dock doors, two drive-in doors, 16 trailer parking stalls and 123 car parking stalls. This project will also feature carbon-reducing concrete slabs and other sustainability attributes. The company is also bidding on projects across the country, both for Brookfield and other developers.