The pharmaceutical giant Merck, which is known as MSD outside of Canada and the United States, is planning to move its global headquarters within the state. Merck will move its worldwide HQ from 1 Merck Drive in Whitehouse Station in New Jersey to its existing property of 556 Morris Avenue, which is located in Summit.
The Summit property, which is two million square feet in total, currently houses animal health, consumer care, manufacturing and research operations, and is home to 1,800 people. The firm will close its 1 Merck Drive headquarters building, which has an area of 900,000 square feet and which the company also owns, with the relocation process expected to start in 2014 and be concluded by the middle of 2015.
The headquarters move comes as part of the firm’s continuing program to consolidate its worldwide real estate footprint and to lower its yearly operating expenses after its merger with Schering Plough three years ago, back in 2009. The location in Summit was chosen as the site for its new headquarters due to the fact that it is a multi-use, strategically located site with excess workspace capacity and a handy proximity to desirable urban centers and major transportation hubs.
Around 2,000 employees and contractors who currently work at the Whitehouse Station worldwide headquarters building will either relocate to the brand new Summit facilities or to other facilities close by, such as those in Cokesbury and Branchburg in New Jersey. Merck has had its headquarters in Whitehouse Station for 20 years, since 1992.
Jon Huser
