Bringing downtown to the suburbs
The former Bell Labs campus in Holmdel, NJ is now Bell Works, a “metroburb” of offices, shops, restaurants and entertainment under one roof. SABRE helped shape the concept and leases the retail and entertainment that make it a destination.
An icon of American science, rebuilt as a little metropolis in suburbia.
A historic building
Bell Labs opened in Holmdel in 1962, designed by Eero Saarinen, the architect behind the TWA terminal at JFK and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Nine Nobel Prize winners worked there. The building saw research that confirmed the Big Bang theory and helped develop satellite radio technology.
Today it is being refit from a scientific research campus into the first of its kind: a “metroburb,” an urban hub in the middle of the suburbs.
Architect of the transformation
SABRE started working on the concept in 2018. The idea was to bring the amenities people usually find only downtown into one all-indoor building, out of the weather, with office, retail and entertainment side by side.
We help tenants work through complex leases and find the spot in the building that gives them the most traffic and exposure. The goal is the right balance of retail and entertainment, so Bell Works is more than a local stop. It is a place people travel to.
- ConceptHelping shape a mixed-use destination out of a former research campus, starting in 2018.
- MerchandisingThe right mix of retail, food and entertainment to draw visitors from well beyond Holmdel.
- Tenant placementMatching each tenant to the location inside the building with the most traffic and exposure.
- Lease negotiationGuiding tenants through complex leases in a building unlike any other.
- LeasingRetail and entertainment space at 85% leased, alongside office at 95%.
- The next Bell WorksApplying the concept to a second Bell Works location outside Chicago.
Have a property that could be a destination?
SABRE brings the right brands to the right buildings, from single storefronts to mixed-use projects like Bell Works.