By Taylor Williams Much like the two major cities that border its northern and southern ends, New Jersey is, for retailers, restaurant groups and entertainment operators that are serious about establishing and growing national footprints, a market that checks every key box. Yet for all the similarities between the Manhattan or Center City Philadelphia retail markets that also apply to New Jersey — tight availability of space, high rents, time-consuming regulatory processes, strong residential density, healthy disposable incomes — brokers and owners that call the Garden State home also know that it’s a market unto itself. “Northern New Jersey is not the same as New York City,” confirms John Azarian, CEO of The Azarian Group, a longtime owner-operator of shopping centers in New Jersey and New York. “Retailers that want to venture into New York City want a different environment, and while we have a lot of density in Northern New Jersey, it’s just not the same as New York City. But if retailers are willing to do deals with different [store] formats, their businesses can do just as well here.” Kevin Pelio, Azarian’s executive vice president of leasing, says that tenants that started in other parts of the country …
