Market Reports

Will Social Distancing Lower Demand for Office Space in Northeast?

by Alex Patton June 9, 2020

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has led to an economic crisis that is forcing office users across the region to make tough choices to continue their operations. While New York has been the epicenter of the virus, reporting nearly a third of the more than 1 million confirmed cases in the entire country, companies across the region have been forced to furlough employees and reassess their short-term needs for space. The nature of traditional office work was already changing before the virus, as mobile technology has allowed more flexible collaboration from home and co-working offices. Lessons learned from the virus, including the need for social distancing, will carry into whatever market conditions follow. Some companies may desire larger office spaces to allow wider distances between employees, while other may forgo physical space in favor of the mobile model. As a result of the health crisis, office brokers are working to help their landlord and tenant clients find common ground as they tentatively move forward with leasing agreements. Northeast Real Estate Business recently caught up with three veteran brokers to gain their insights into how the virus has impacted their office markets. Below are edited responses from Joshua Levering, senior …

June 9, 2020

New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

Office Developers Renovate, Repurpose Outdated Assets in Northern New Jersey

by Alex Patton April 28, 2020

From start-ups seeking flex space to major corporations that are expanding or relocating an entire office, finding a modern office space in the northern New Jersey commercial market is always a challenge. Barbara Gross, Sheldon Gross Realty Overall, it’s a very mature environment, with many older structures and corporate parks lining the highways, and with limited new development. As an example of the resultant complexities, let’s look back to the 1980s and ’90s, when the Route 280 corridor (primarily in western Essex County) was bustling. Office parks had few vacancies, and rental rates were among the highest in the state. Until relatively recently, only a few companies owned the majority of these buildings, thereby “controlling” who went where and at what rental rate. But over time, these owners have been selling the individual buildings in parks to a variety of new owners, resulting in a more competitive marketplace. It’s refreshing to see the new owners investing in renovations and adding new amenities. However, responding to a younger generation coming to or returning home to New Jersey and demanding greener, 24/7 communities, developers are demolishing some of those older office buildings and parks. Projects are before planning boards now that would …

April 28, 2020

Market Reports New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

Southern New Jersey Epitomizes Consistency of the Suburban Office Market

by Alex Patton April 21, 2020

As an adjunct of the greater Philadelphia market, but with a population that supports its own industry, Southern New Jersey is the archetype of the suburban office market. While throughout the country there has been a trend of firms migrating back to urban centers, Southern New Jersey has held its own against its metropolitan neighbor. In some instances, this area has outperformed average suburban office market metrics. Rebecca Ting, NAI Mertz For example, the national vacancy rate for suburban office markets stood at 22.1 percent at the end of 2019. Midway through the first quarter of 2020, the vacancy rate in Southern New Jersey’s core of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties stands at 8.7 percent. That rate represents a slight increase from year-end 2019, but is consistent with the 8.5 percent median rate for the market over the past four years. Market rents have been on a steady ascent since mid-2016 and now stand at $21.30 per square foot. The two primary submarkets of Southern New Jersey — Cherry Hill and Marlton–Moorestown–Mount Laurel (3M) — are both performing well and are approaching an equilibrium on the metrics of vacancy rate and market rent. Julie Kronfield, NAI Mertz Office space in …

April 21, 2020

Market Reports Multifamily New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports

Multifamily Capital Chases Limited Supply in Northern New Jersey

by Alex Patton April 14, 2020

An abundance of capital continues to flow into Northern New Jersey’s multifamily market, with most investors completing 2019 as net buyers and major institutions looking to remain active in 2020. Over the past decade, domestic and foreign investors alike have diversified into the multifamily space in Northern New Jersey and nationwide. The result has been a highly competitive playing field with limited opportunities. And with more capital in the market than opportunities to place it, many larger funds are now looking to make portfolio acquisitions in order to divest large amounts of capital at once. Brian Whitmer, Cushman & Wakefield Excluding portfolio deals, transaction volume for multifamily investment in Northern New Jersey reached $1.6 billion in 2019, marking a 38 percent year-over-year increase, with 4,846 units sold across 27 transactions. This rise in deal volume can be attributed largely to the “Mack-Cali Effect.” The locally based REIT made two major 2019 purchases in Jersey City — SoHo Lofts ($264 million) and Liberty Towers ($409 million) — that accounted for 41 percent of the year’s individual transaction volume. Buyer Patterns While larger institutions and REITs like Mack-Cali are active in Northern New Jersey, private investors still dominate the regional market. This …

April 14, 2020

New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports Pennsylvania Retail

Philadelphia Retail Market Embraces Change in ’20s

by Alex Patton February 25, 2020

As our economy fades out of one decade and cruises into the next, a look in the rearview mirror reveals more than 10 years of expansion and 10-year GDP growth in excess of 26 percent. Sean Beuche, Marcus & Millichap The Philadelphia and Northeastern retail investment sales markets should be both thankful for progress made and road bumps navigated and mindful of several current trends affecting transactions and challenges looming on the horizon for owners and tenants of single and multi-tenant retail assets alike. Savvy Investors enter 2020 with the wind at their backs in many respects while also facing some familiar and unconventional challenges ahead. The 3.7 percent unemployment remains near a 50-year low, meaning that consumers are gainfully employed with money to spend. Mixed-use developments that capture the live-work-play lifestyle are ubiquitous and keep placemaking everywhere they spring up. Millennials and baby boomers alike are demanding walkable communities and opportunities to spend more of their money closer to home via dining out, signing up for memberships at gyms and fitness centers. Both these groups are enjoying the experiential retail that every landlord desires in their centers and portfolios. Stocks of publicly traded retailers like Target, Walmart, and Home …

February 25, 2020

Market Reports New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports Retail

American Dream Ushers in Retail, Entertainment Growth in Northern New Jersey

by Taylor Williams January 29, 2020

Across the Hudson River, retailers and residents in Northern New Jersey benefit from lower rents and lower sales prices relative to Manhattan. In addition, mass transit lines that cross the river enable mixed-use destinations that offer dining and entertainment experiences, including the new American Dream project, to function as day-trip destinations for residents and tourists. “Northern New Jersey is still a strong tenant’s market,” says John Azarian, co-founder and CEO of New Jersey-based brokerage firm The Azarian Group. “Tenants are commanding and receiving substantial build-out and tenant improvement accommodations, with the strongest retail tenants being in the service, fitness and dining industries.” The retail vacancy rate in Northern New Jersey in the third quarter stood at 4.2 percent, unchanged from a year ago. During the same period, the asking rent rose 2.1 percent to $26.47 per square foot, according to Marcus & Millichap. The firm projects that 3.1 million square feet of new retail space will be delivered in Northern New Jersey by the end of 2019. Most of that new product will be housed at the American Dream entertainment and retail development in East Rutherford. In late October, Triple Five Group opened the first phase of its approximately $5 …

January 29, 2020

Market Reports New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

New Jersey Office Market in Good Shape Heading into Final Quarter of 2019

by Taylor Williams October 23, 2019

Employment growth in New Jersey continues to trend higher. Since the low point of the last recession in 2010, the state’s private sector has seen almost 409,000 new jobs added (through July). Of the office-using industries, professional and business services have shown healthy annual job growth — up 13,900 jobs — while financial services jobs have recorded declines over the past year. Meanwhile, the state’s unemployment rate continued to tick lower to 3.3 percent (as of July), the lowest in its recorded history. Within this context, the fundamentals of the New Jersey office market remain healthy as we enter the final quarter of 2019, with absorption totals remaining in the black, vacancies sinking lower and asking rents trending upward. Regional Discrepancies Northern New Jersey’s vacancy rate had dropped to 18.3 percent by the middle of 2019, the lowest point since the end of 2012, while central New Jersey checked in at 15.5 percent, marking four consecutive quarterly decreases. Space has tightened in some key submarkets, making landlords increasingly bullish. As a result, asking rents in Northern New Jersey have risen to $31.62 per square foot — an all-time high and a jump of 17.8 percent over the last four years. …

October 23, 2019

Industrial Market Reports New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports

Demand Outpaces Development in New Jersey’s Industrial Market

by Taylor Williams October 16, 2019

Across the Northeast, the high level of demand from retailers, food companies and transportation/logistics firms is outpacing the level of development and redevelopment in the industrial market, causing a severe shortage of product and skyrocketing rents across the region. At the center of this trend is New Jersey, situated in the heart of the Northeast’s Boston-Washington, D.C. corridor between Philadelphia and New York City. The demand for industrial space in New Jersey is driven by its strategic location and sophisticated infrastructure including air, freight, port and rail options linking it to the rest of the country. Despite the near-record level of development in the industrial sector, the state faces a product deficit that even the nearly 5.3 million square feet of space currently under construction cannot satisfy. In fact, 93 percent of the more than 21 million square feet that was developed in 2017 and 2018 has already been leased. Demand has pushed the average asking rent across the state to $8.41 per square foot, an all-time high. Moreover, asking rents are often not listed in new buildings or those under construction, many of which have rents as high as the low teens. Not listing the asking rents demonstrates how …

October 16, 2019

Industrial Market Reports New Jersey New York Northeast Northeast Market Reports

Industrial Development Shifts Westward From Port

by Taylor Williams October 2, 2019

Demand for industrial space is roaring throughout the submarkets surrounding the Port of New York and New Jersey, propelled by the port’s handling of a record amount of cargo thus far in 2019. As a result of the healthy demand, as well as more product coming in and out of the port, landlords are enjoying positive rent growth accentuated by a limited supply of quality industrial space. The port experienced record growth in cargo volume handled during the first six months of 2019, according to internal data from the organization. The number of 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled by the port has already exceeded 3 million for the year and surpassed 611,000 in June alone. This figure represents an all-time record for the port during the first half of the year, enabling it to surpass the Port of Long Beach for the first time in 20 years. Increasing amounts of inventory coming in and out of the port translates to greater demand for industrial space to store, process and ship product. But the port submarket has but a meager supply of real estate to meet the demand. Due to a limited space available for lease, the industrial submarket experienced negative …

October 2, 2019

Industrial Market Reports New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports

Array of Industries Drives New Jersey Industrial Market’s Growth

by Taylor Williams September 18, 2019

New Jersey’s industrial market continues to expand, driven by a plethora of industries, including retail, manufacturing, food companies, transportation and logistics. As the popularity of e-commerce shows no signs of abating, New Jersey has become a key location for distribution centers and last-mile delivery hubs to serve the entire Northeast region. E-retailers are scooping up available industrial space, taking advantage of New Jersey’s excellent air, freight, port, and rail infrastructure that links it to the rest of the region and the country. Increasing Demand After taking a slight breather during the first quarter of 2019, in part due to a lack of available high-quality space, total leasing activity has increased by 20 percent during the past three months, bolstered by more than 20 leases exceeding 100,000 square feet. Absorption was widespread, with occupancy level increases in 16 of 25 submarkets for both the quarter and year over year. In total, 2.4 million square feet of positive net absorption was recorded during the second quarter of 2019, the highest level since the third quarter of 2018. Moreover, occupancy levels increased by 8.6 million square feet during the past 12 months, the eighth consecutive quarter where more than 8 million square feet …

September 18, 2019

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