MarketWatch
Office | Industrial | Retail | MultiFamily
INDUSTRIAL MARKET REMAINS STRONG
Despite a slight cool-down in industrial tenant movement and investor activity during the summer months, the New Jersey market for industrial property is still fairly
healthy, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q3 statistics. And while the velocity
of leasing activity slowed from the first half of the year, available industrial product,
which currently totals 46. 1 million sf in Northern and Central New Jersey, actually
declined slightly. More than 5. 2 million sf of leases were signed over the summer,
with the most popular destinations being Middlesex and Hudson counties.
Still, new space coming on the market could change things a bit. “Overall vacancy
rates are likely
Q3 North/Central New Jersey By the Numbers to rise in Central
New Jersey if the
roughly four million sf of speculative development
expected for delivery by 2008 is
not absorbed,”
says Gil Medina,
(Source: Cushman & Wakefield of NJ) executive managing director of
Cushman & Wake-
field of New Jersey, East Rutherford. He adds that, “activity in the northern part of
the state will continue to center around the ports.
“Notably, the Port Authority officially approved the sale of Maher Terminals Inc.’s
600-acre port operations at Port Elizabeth to Deutsche Asset Management’s RREEF
Infrastructure, which agreed to invest at least $114 million in capital improvements
in the property,” Medina notes.
Middlesex County, by itself, saw 43% of the summer months’ activity, according
to C&W’s figures. Deals in excess of 100,000 sf were struck by Pro Tape & Specialties, Just Packaging, Recall Trucking, Kreilkamp Trucking Inc. and VSE Corp. KMM
Telecommunications signed the largest lease, for 209,000 sf in Edison.
And a total of nearly one million sf of space was leased in Hudson County during the period. The submarket received commitments from AFL Web Printing, Iron
Mountain Information Management, Inc., Contract Furniture Transport and Yellow Roadway Corp.
In addition to the space absorption numbers, Cushman & Wakefield also found
that average rental rates increased slightly market-wide to $6.56 per sf. That number was up from the $6.44 per sf figure reported at the same time last year.
And Q3 found significant available space also being added to the market’s existing building stock, with two sizeable projects located in Cranbury totaling 517,000 sf
being completed over the summer months. They included a 277,000-sf flex building
located at 2 Clark Dr., and a 240,000-sf warehouse/distribution facility that was completed on Costco Dr.
Total Available Space: 46. 1 million sf
Leases Signed: 5. 2 million sf
Average Asking Rents: $6.56 per sf
*New Construction: 4 million sf
*Spec product projected for delivery in 2008
407,000-SF INDUSTRIAL
SELLS FOR $17M
APCA Property Fund I, co-sponsored by
Boston-based Paradigm Capital Advisors
and Stamford, CT-based Ashforth Co., has
acquired a three-building industrial portfolio in Moorestown from Whitesell for $17
million. The price for the 407,000-sf properties factors out to $42 per sf. Steve Allison of Paradigm Capital represented the
buyer; the Delran-based Whitesell was represented by CB Richard Ellis.
The portfolio consists of three adjacent
buildings. The largest is 540 Glen Ave.,
219,304 sf including nearly 19,000
sf of office space.
Located on 12
acres and built in
1974, it’s fully occupied by American Shower &
Bath, which has
been there for 540GlenAve.
over a decade.
The second is the 102,232-sf 550 Glen
Ave., which includes 4,000 sf of office
space. Built in 1975 and situated on 7. 5
acres, it is fully occupied by SupplyOne
Inc., a designer and maker of custom packaging. The third building is the 85,337-sf
600 Glen Court. Built in 1978 on 10 acres, it
includes an office component of 4,000 sf.
Central Wholesalers, a plumbing, hardware
and electrical supply company, occupies
more than 51,000 sf, and the remaining
34,000+ sf is currently available for lease.
AMB BUYS 452,000-SF
EDISON BUILDING
AMB Property Corp. has acquired a
452,000-sf industrial property in Edison, an
acquisition that boosts the company’s area
holdings to 12. 3 million sf. New to the company’s portfolio is the renamed AMB New
