Ground has been broken. Sanofi will move into Morristown M Station West in 18 months, exec tells crowd

The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is best known for the prescription sleep drug Ambien. But its plans for Morristown are anything but sleepy.

At Wednesday’s groundbreaking for Sanofi’s New Jersey flagship office at M Station West, a top company official said Sanofi is eager to move from Somerset County in 18 months and help “revitalize” the town.

“I speak for all Sanofians who work in Bridgewater: We are excited and delighted to be able to come here, to call Morristown our home in the future, and also to work with the mayor’s office and the other people to make sure we really revitalize and help Morristown to the best of our ability,” said Stefan Roehr, Sanofi’s global head of supply chain for North America.

His remarks were addressed to a Who’s Who of Morris County’s movers and shakers, on the sixth floor of M Station East, where Big Four accounting firm Deloitte relocated about 1,500 employees last year from Parsippany, according to figures from an M Station spokesperson.

M Station West will stand seven stories above the new traffic roundabout at Spring and Morris streets, with a public plaza and an expanded parking deck.

Sanofi has announced plans to relocate 1,900 employees to M Station and to offices above Wells Fargo on South Street. The latter move is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024, just ahead of M Station West’s opening, according to a Sanofi spokesman

Valley National Bank’s new six-story headquarters on Speedwell Avenue is anticipated to bring another 660 workers to town. Ground-floor space is designated for retail at each of the new buildings.

All three projects — M Station East and West and the bank — are partnerships between New York-based SJP Properties and Scotto Properties, owners of the M Station tract occupied for decades by the Midtown Shopping Center strip mall.

Executives from both companies grabbed shovels Wednesday for a ceremonial dirt-toss, joined by elected officials from Morristown and Morris County.

SJP founder and CEO Steve Pozycki predicted these new corporate tenants will stimulate business for local retailers “beat up” by e-commerce.

“Our vision for M Station was to create a work environment that centered around excellent transportation, great retail, and many cultural institutions. We knew M Station was exactly what regional, national and international companies, including Valley, Deloitte and Sanofi, needed to attract and retain employees,” Pozyicki said.

“Every town needs a balance of high quality office, residential and retail to create the thriving local environment that we want to see. Our new corporate neighbors, and their respective workforces, will help boost the daytime foot traffic in the town remarkably,” he said.

Attracting Sanofi, the world’s ninth-largest pharma company, was a “major, major coup,” said Mayor Tim Dougherty. 

“It means the world to us, and we’re so excited to be partners with you,” he told Roehr.

Indeed, Dougherty’s only concern appeared to be pronouncing the company’s name properly. The French prefer Sanna-FAY.

U.S. employees such as Morristown Council Vice President Nathan Umbriac, who works in the company’s patient safety division, say San-O-fee.

Vive la différence?

‘SMALL HOMETOWN FEEL’

Dougherty joked that the company will make an immediate positive environmental impact by enabling Umbriac to walk to work. Praising SJP’s Pozycki as the best developer he’s worked with during his three-and-a-half terms, the mayor marveled how “Morristown has become a beacon for this type of investment,” despite “forces that don’t want to see things succeed.”

Some residents have contended the pace and scope of development are changing the town’s character in drastic ways. Some council members have pushed, so far unsuccessfully, to rezone Morris Street across from M Station for lower building heights, to prevent a “canyon effect” for nearby neighborhoods.

State Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-25th Dist.) said M Station is ideally located.

“This is just sound planning,” he said.

Also on hand: Bucco’s legislative partner, Assemblywoman Aura Dunn; a representative of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th Dist.); Morris County commissioners; Morristown council- and planning board members, their attorneys, and town Planner Phil Abramson; and directors of the Morristown Parking Authority, Morristown Partnership, and the Morris Museum.

Roehr said Sanofi’s Morristown operations will include administrative and support functions for the general medicines business unit, finance, research and development, vaccines, supply chains and manufacturing, and business development.

Morristown offers an appealing blend of vibrancy and a “small hometown feel,” he said.

“It’s got a lot of activities…we have a lot of young employees that really look at how to incorporate into the community, and how to be part of the community. We want to work with the mayor’s office and see how we can help, and revitalize certain areas, and really be part of this vibrant community.”

A native of Frankfurt, Germany, who now calls Whitehouse Station home, Roehr has worked in plenty of places in his 38 years at Sanofi — from the Garden State to Germany, France, Venezuela, Brazil, Texas and Kansas City.

One way or another, he said, “I keep coming back to New Jersey. I love it.”

MORRISTOWN GREEN COVERAGE OF M STATION

Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin; click/hover on images for captions:

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This story has been updated with additional details about employee numbers, projected completion dates, and council positions regarding zoning amendments.