City Report: EDISON/WOODBRIDGE
Something
in Common
“Metropark is a beacon in the state’s slow-moving
commercial real estate sector.”
Woodbridge and Edison are two distinct submarkets, but
one thing they have in common is Metropark, a beacon in the state’s slow-moving commercial real estate
sector. A diversity of office tenants attracted to the central location, proximity to Manhattan and access to mass transportation
has kept that market very tight, according to Paul Giannone, executive vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle in Woodbridge.
At the confluence of the NJ Turnpike, I-287 and Routes 1 and 9, the
combined Woodbridge/Edison market is one of the largest in Central
Jersey. And Metropark is a big chunk of
that, encompassing 3. 8 million sf in parts
of Edison and Iselin (Woodbridge).
“We’re seeing a lot of interest from
financial services companies looking at
Metropark as a location for back office, business continuity and disaster recovery space,” Giannone says. Also driving demand is the
growth of local companies in and around Middlesex County.
“We’re seeing a lot of activity in general because rents in New
York have gone up by 35-40% over the last year and New Jersey
is benefiting,” says Marc Rosenberg, EVP for Cushman & Wakefield in Morristown. “Metropark especially is seeing activity.”
Drew Persson, first VP, GVA Williams NJ in Parsippany,
agrees: “The diversity of the industry is certainly sustaining the
marketplace.” By the end of last year, he had closed nearly
187,000 sf of new office deals and renewals at Woodbridge Cor-
By Dora Johnson
Contributing Editor
porate Plaza in Iselin, owned by KBS Realty Advisors.
“It’s a reflection of the vibrancy of that entire market in Metropark,
Woodbridge, and Edison,” he says. One of his largest deals was the
67,000-ft lease for Maidenform’s corporate HQ. Others involved
Comcast, AmeriHealth Insurance and Lanier Worldwide. Woodbridge Corporate Plaza is over 90% occupied, according to Persson.
Metropark is one of three submarkets “seeing some good benefits from tightness in Manhattan now,” observes Persson, pointing to the Jersey City waterfront and Secaucus as the other two.
“Companies are looking for alternatives because of the high rents,
and they’re looking for markets with viable product, reasonable
rents and public transportation to support employees,” he says.
One sign of Metropark’s hot market is new spec development.
Metro Top, a two-building complex consisting of an existing 90,000-
sf building, and phase two, a nine-story, 255,000-sf class A office
building is currently under construction at 115 Wood Avenue South.
It’s the first spec project Metropark has seen since 1991 and Jones
Lang LaSalle is marketing the space for Atlantic Realty Development Corp. Although there are no lease commitments yet, Giannone explains that, “there have been a number of interested parties.”
The building will be completed in Q1 2009. Designed with 28,500-
sf floor plates, the space can accommodate smaller tenants as well:
“We can be fairly aggressive on pre-leasing commitments,” Giannone
says, adding that asking rents will be in the mid- to high $30s.
“The Middlesex County market, especially along the I-287 corridor,
