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 …
