Owner Of Bell Works: We've Leased 1 Million Square Feet

HOLMDEL, NJ — Speaking at a lavish Cuban-themed holiday party he threw on site last Thursday, Ralph Zucker, the owner of the sprawling Bell Works complex in Holmdel, said he now has one million out of the 1.2 million square feet at Bell Works leased, and "we're almost making money."

Hailed as a New Jersey real estate visionary, Zucker purchased the decrepit, falling-apart Bell Labs complex from Alcatel-Lucent in 2013, for a purchase price of $27 million. At the time, the hulk of a building was mostly sitting empty in the middle of wealthy Holmdel suburbia, with weeds growing in the main lobby. Zucker renamed it Bell "Works" and is in the middle of an ambitious redevelopment project there, transforming it into an attractive business and tech mecca.

Think of it as the Google campus of New Jersey.

"Bell Works is a two-million-square-foot ecosystem filled with business, dining, culture, and more — all located an hour southwest of NYC in Central New Jersey," read their marketing materials. Tenants who've moved in in the past year include IPG Photonics, Onyx Equities, LightRiver Software fiber optics and iCIMs software, as well as several boutique investment firms. JCP&L now runs their Monmouth County offices on site. A Bar Method is supposed to open in 2019. Bell Works just opened up co-working spaces to rent, and two different couples are renting out the main ballroom for their wedding in 2019.

"We're making Holmdel cool again!" Zucker joked on Thursday night to Holmdel Township Committeeman Greg Buontempo, as waiters passed by with trays of Cuban aperitivos.

In all seriousness, he turned to this Patch reporter and said: "We're almost making money. We have one million square feet of office space leased here, out of 1.2 million square feet total."

Zucker threw the Dec. 13 soiree for Bell Works' tenants and their employees.

The Holmdel library and a Montessori school are already open for business on the ground floor, along with a sprawling food court, hair salon and boutique, City Barn | Country Penthouse. In 2020, a 186-room hotel will open on the rooftop, with a lounge and infinity pool. Two Roads Hospitality was named as the hotel operator.

Originally constructed between 1962 and 1964 Bell Works served as the research headquarters for Bell Laboratories, Lucent, and Alcatel-Lucent, the building housed a total of seven Nobel Prize winners, including those who conceived theories for the laser, the Big Bang theory, cellular technology and the transistor.

Zucker's next conquest in Monmouth County? His company, Somerset Development, is currently under contract to buy a property at Fort Monmouth for $17.5 million; he plans to build townhouses there.

Ongoing Patch reporting on Bell Works: More Renderings Of Holmdel's Bell Works Hotel

15 New Companies Sign Leases At Bell Works

$42 Million in New Tax Breaks Given to Entice Companies to Bell Works

Holmdel Planning Board OKs Bell Works Hotel

Long Longed-For, Holmdel Library at Bell Works Opens Dec. 18

First Look At The New Holmdel Library at Bell Works!

Luxury Boutique Hotel Operator Chosen For Bell Works Hotel

All photos provided to Patch by Somerset Development. Photo of Ralph Zucker at the holiday party used with permission from Bell Works.