Federal government buys Roxbury warehouse for $129.3M from Goldman-managed Dalfen fund

Public property documents and local reporting show the federal government agreed to pay approximately $129.3 million for the 470,000-square-foot warehouse at 1879 Route 46 in Roxbury Township, Morris County. Property records list Dallas-based Dalfen Industrial LLC as the owner, and Goldman Sachs said in a Feb. 26 statement that the site “sat vacant for two years” and “was held in a real estate investment fund that we manage. We had a fiduciary obligation to investors in the fund to sell it.”

The Department of Homeland Security has described the Route 46 site as part of a network of detention and processing facilities, saying the centers “will not be warehouses - they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.” DHS projected the conversion and construction would bring 1,300 jobs, contribute $161.2 million to gross domestic product, and generate a projected $39.2 million in tax revenue; those figures are presented as DHS estimates in public statements cited by local outlets.

Reporting across the week documented contradictory federal messages before public documents clarified the price. Gothamist earlier reported Homeland Security officials had confirmed a purchase and cited the 1,300 job and $39 million tax revenue figures, then town officials told Gothamist federal officials had said “no facility was purchased in Roxbury.” New Jersey Monitor, in a Feb. 20, 2026 article, described a chaotic week that included those conflicting statements and noted DHS retracted confirmations about separate purchases in Chester, New York, and Lebanon, Tennessee.

Local officials and activists have reacted sharply. Roxbury Township Council, an all-Republican board in a town that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2024, passed an anti-ICE resolution and issued a “blistering statement” calling it “inconceivable and frankly stunning that all of our communications to DHS on issues related to this selection as a detention center were never answered.” U.S. Sen. Cory Booker posted on X: “ICE reportedly closed a deal worth tens of millions of dollars to warehouse human beings in Roxbury, New Jersey. It betrays everything this community stands for and then hands them the bill. I’ve toured the site. I’ve met with local leaders and residents. And the opposition is unanimous - this is wrong morally, fiscally, and for the safety of this community. ICE has ignored every concern. The agency also ignored multiple requests from my office to coordinate a meeting for township leaders to express these concerns. This agency doesn’t just lack oversight, it lacks conscience. The Roxbury community is united on this, it is resolute, and it has said NO to this ICE facility. We will not stop until this fight is won.”

Local coverage and community groups have framed the site as one node in a larger effort. TAPinto Roxbury and regional reporting described the building as joining a “growing network of staging locations handling some 1,000 to 1,500 detainees at a time.” Protesters gathered on Route 46 on Feb. 16, 2026, and NorthJersey reported further rallies scheduled for Feb. 28, 2026 as residents press elected officials for answers.

Key transactional details remain unreported: the deed and closing documents for 1879 Route 46 have not been published in the stories reviewed, and no outlet produced the buyer name as recorded on title beyond referring generally to the federal government and DHS. Journalists and local officials are pursuing the chain of title linking Dalfen Industrial LLC, the Goldman-managed fund, and the federal acquisition to pin down the legal buyer, the exact closing date, and any sale terms; for now, public records show the $129.3 million price, Dalfen as the listed owner, and Goldman acknowledging it sold a fund-held property on fiduciary grounds.