Russo Development and Forsgate Industrial Partners took a big gamble roughly 10 years ago when they successfully bid on a 718-acre parcel, an area packed with remediated former landfills, in North Jersey's Meadowlands. They then crafted plans to develop a huge 3 million-square-foot industrial park, Kingsland Meadowlands, there without having a major tenant lined up for it.
Their determination and patience paid off in 2024 when off-price retail giant TJX Cos. — parent of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense and Sierra — signed a lease for a 1.3 million-square-foot building at Kingsland Meadowlands. That particular building marks the first phase of the logistics and e-commerce complex in Lyndhurst.
The success of family-owned Russo and Forsgate in putting TJX on Kingsland Meadowlands' tenant roster has been selected by a panel of industry professionals as the 2025 CoStar Impact Awards lease of the year for Northern New Jersey.
Russo, based in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and Forsgate, headquartered in Teterboro, New Jersey, had to go through a maze of steps before they could execute a lease with TJX. They not only took part in a competitive bidding process with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to secure the property, but the redevelopment had to go through a complex entitlement process to win approvals from numerous state and federal agencies. The partners then commenced designing a master-planned, seven-building park that will transform the property into a modern distribution center.
New Jersey has been a popular choice for distribution centers because of its location in a densely populated region and its proximty to major airports and seaports. But many of the Meadowlands industrial properties are aged. Kingsland Meadowlands will add state-of-the-logistics options to the area.
About the project: Past attempts to redevelop the long-dormant Kingsland tract failed. Russo and Forsgate, veteran Meadowlands industrial developers, said that was largely because underfunded firms that lacked local knowledge and expertise got involved in the site. Sections of the Kingsland property were part of a failed $1 billion development undertaken by EnCap Golf Holdings of Florida more than a decade ago.
TJX will occupy Phase 1 of Kingsland Meadowlands, Building A, with 40-foot ceiling heights, 276 loading docks, 1,274 total trailer parking spaces and 792 car parking spaces. The TJX lease is a major economic boost to the property and the area on what had been a stagnant legacy landfill.
TJX recognized Kingsland for its proximity to an abundance of skilled labor and access to transportation and major highways. The company will ultimately consolidate several operations under one roof and tap an overall labor force of over 5 million within 15 miles and nearly 350,000 transportation and warehouse workers in the Meadowlands region.
What the judges said: "Likely the largest industrial transaction in the history of the state," said William Hanson, president and managing principal of NAI James E. Hanson. The big TJX lease "is impactful because of the significance of opportunity for significant job growth and economic impetus" for the region, said Beth Chezmar, a vice president at Lee & Associates.
They made it happen: Ed Russo, CEO, Russo Development; Mike Pembroke, chief operating officer, Russo Development; Andrew Moss, director of leasing and acquisitions, Forsgate Industrial Partners; Mary Chancis, senior vice president, America East Real Estate; Robert Kossar, vice chairman, JLL; David Knee, vice chairman, JLL.