Christie to Attend Realogy Groundbreaking

Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday will gather with Madison Mayor Robert Conley and other officials to host a groundbreaking ceremony for the new headquarters of real estate broker Realogy.

The event gets underway at 10 a.m. at 175 Park Ave., to where Realogy is moving in Parsippany.

Property owner Hampshire Companies is renovating the former Verizon structure into a 270,000-square-foot, LEED Silver-certified office building. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of 2012. The building will host more than 950 employees of Realogy, sole tenant and parent of Century 21, ERA, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby's International Realty.

The Christie administration has described the project as evidence of New Jersey's economic comeback, and a result of the Governor's pro-growth agenda.

The real estate company earlier signed a 17-year lease for the site. Realogy had considered several other relocation options, including moving out of state, before it was wooed with incentives from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, aided by the New Jersey Business Action Center.