Developer Could Purchase Bayer Site, Market it for R&D

A developer is looking to buy Bayer HealthCare’s Wayne campus and market it as a research and development facility, NorthJersey.com reported Wednesday.

Bayer HealthCare, the U.S. subsidiary of BayerAG, is re-locating its three North Jersey offices to Bayer's new East Coast headquarters in Whippany, along with 2,500 jobs.

Vision Equities LLC of Mountain Lakes can purchase the site, and another in Montville. Vision Equities became the developer of the Whippany site several years ago.

The Wayne location has nearly 300,000 square feet of space. The property was assessed at $16.1 million last year, tax records show. Records show the property is zoned for office and mixed-use.

"There's a broad spectrum of uses that we think would be more than capable within the current zoning," said Samuel Morreale, managing partner of Vision Equities told the website. "That's a unique opportunity for the market, or it could be a potential redevelopment opportunity for us, as well."

Bayer employees are expected to start relocating to the Whippany campus in the middle of the year.

Morreale said Vision Equities isn’t planning to knock down the building.

Bayer announced in April 2011 that it would create a “consolidated East Coast business site.”

Local municipal and business leaders were hopeful Bayer would stay in Wayne.

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.