20B — March 30 - April 12, 2012 — Commercial Office Spotlight — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
C OMMERCIAL O FFICE S POTLIGHT
ROCK Commercial brokers 11,994 s/f lease in York, PA
By Thomas Woodstok, AMI Business Interiors Five biggest mistakes companies make buying office furniture
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t is not something firms do everyday, moving to a new space and buying new
ket. Princeton Medical Group went to 15,500 s/f of new medi- cal space at Plainsboro Town Village, and Forrestal Village signed The Urology Group of Princeton. For 5,000 s/f, these buildings are experiencing an increase in medical leasing as the date comes closer for the opening of the University Medi- cal Center Campus. Capital health and University Medical Center of Princeton are both delivering 100,000 s/f medical office buildings. Internet, Software, Electronic & Fiber: This category finished 2011 with up to 96,000 s/f of growth. Fifteen percent of the growth came specifically with internet software companies “901 Lincoln Drive West was a great opportunity for TJX. They were able to re- duce their occupancy costs while keeping their high end Class A corporate envi- ronment. 901 Lincoln Drive West also allowed TJX the opportunity to expand as their business continues to grow.” addedMcGovern. The financial details of the trans- on everything from style and office function, to finishes and colors. Add at least a month to explore styles, function, filing needs, colors, finishes, and cost ranges. 2. Ignore or make a low priority of worker comfort / ergonomics. The modern in- formation worker needs a good chair, an adjustable keyboard platform, and proper lighting. Buy the cheap desk, get a good chair. 3. Think of furniture as a simple commodity. The at- titude is that a desk is a desk and it’s just to support a com- puter. Office furniture is also a fashion item. Office furniture is the clothes that your firm wears every day. Clients don’t visit the office? Your employees do! Numerous studies have documented that the appear- ance of an office is the second or third consideration prospective hires consider when choosing a position. Proper furniture in a carefully planned layout can enhance productivity, improve moral, and contribute to the bottom line. 4. Design by committee. It is a good idea to solicit everyone’s ideas, but that is as far as it
such as Verus, Oracle and IP Accelerate, collectively leasing 41,000 s/f of class Aoffice space. Electronic companies, such as Princeton Power Systems, who has created new convertor tech- nology for solar power and solar city, leased 45,000 s/f combined in order to accommodate their growth. Education/Government/Non- Profit: The education/govern- ment expansion slowed and lowered from 25% absorption in 2008 to only 7% in growth in 2011. Eden Institute leased 17,000 s/f of office work space for their “Eden W.E.R.C. Program” at 4 Crossroads in Hamilton. Gerard J. Fennelly is president of NAI Fennelly. ■ action remain undisclosed. The 901 Building is a three story, Class “A” office build- ing offering Route 73 front- age, a distinctive profession- al lobby, full height solid core entrance doors, fixed solar bronze windows and a unique covered parking garage with limited spaces along with 4 per thousand s/f in-common surface parking. ■ should go. The Boss in partner- ship with the office manager or facilities manager must make the final decision which will be based on a number of fac- tors including price, available manufacturer options, lead times, and functionally. I had one client that painted their hallways bright canary yellow based on one dominate person on the “design committee” who said the color works so well in her kitchen; another who insisted that his desk be placed in front of the door so he could have a better view out the win- dow. You get the idea. 5. Confuse value with price. You don’t have to buy the most expensive products to get good value but the cheap- est products are seldom good values. The $125 chair will not provide proper support to the user or outlast its depreciation schedule. Like the TV shows where the fancy designer takes Jim Bob to Target for a styl- ish makeover on a budget, a knowledgeable contract dealer can make your office looks like Brooks Brothers. Thomas Woodstok is the founder and principal in AMI Business Interiors. ■
office furni- ture. While the business was on the growth curve to a larger and be t t e r space the fur- niture pur- chases were a
Thomas Woodstok
file cabinet here an extra desk there, and were usually in the category of “the least expensive stop gap” product that the of- fice manager can find. So, what is a firm to do? There are as many solutions as there are scenarios available in a very large and complex of- fice furniture market place. I cannot address them all here, but I can tell you the 5 big- gest mistakes that firms make when planning and buying new furniture. 1. Failure to allow enough time to shop and compare dif- ferent types and styles. The minimum time schedule is 8 weeks. Most contract furniture is produced to order with a lead time of 6 weeks. So 8 weeks gives you two weeks to decide
2351 Freedom Way in York, PA
YORK, PA — Pennsylvania Comprehensive Behavioral Health, LLC leased 11,994 square feet of office space at 2351 Freedom Way in York,
PA in York Township. ROCK Commercial Real Estate, LLC represented the landlord and the tenant in this transac- tion. ■
continued from page 3B “Water, water everywhere, nor not a . . .
from the Sovereign Entertain- ment and Expo Center. This will help attract a more vibrant restaurant and entertainment segment with increased ame- nities and ultimately assist to bring tenants back downtown while decreasing vacancy rates and increases in the tax base. 2012 is showing signs of hope, with new tenants entering the market place, and rental rates continuing along a steady course. Deals will continue getting done because landlords are reacting to current market conditions, which means com- panies are getting favorable incentives, such as introductory rates, rent abatements and ad- ditional tenant improvements. Also, landlords are now offer- ing tenant improvements and incentives to keep their existing tenants. Check out my blog at www. Bryanecole.wordpress.com for more market information and updates within the Greater Reading Office Sector along with checking our website at www.Bryan-Cole.com Written and compiled by Bryan Cole of NAI Keystone Commercial & Industrial, LLC. ■ will once again return to the market. However, if we have learned our lesson, it will be under more prudent loan-to- value ratios with solid debt coverage ratios on income in place. Mark Fitzgerald, CCIM, CPM, is president and chief operating officer of High Associates Ltd. ■
at The Madison Building lo- cated at 400 Washington St. 2012 downtown vacancy rates will have amajor negative jump if CNA follows thru with their plan to vacate the 260,000 s/f. facility located at 401 Penn St.. Even if CNA decides to maintain its presence they are still only occupying 80,000 of the 260,000 s/f, so the impact is going to be felt regardless. A positive note is that 525 Lan- caster Ave, Reading has been purchased by a multi-family developer who has decided to redevelopment from office to apartments. This will eliminate a 110,000 sf. office building which has been vacant for a number of years. The City of Reading and eco- nomic development groups have been working hard to improve and revitalize Downtown which shows in the number of projects underway and/or completed. The new IMAX Theater and the completed addition to the Reading Eagle Headquarters in the CBD are welcome entrants to the market and kick off a multi-million dollar main St. corridor project that includes a new $67 million Doubletree hotel and garage project across were nearly $12 billion in loan originations with that number projected to increase to $33 billion in 2011 and $50 billion in 2012. Lesson learned As the economy slowly re- covers and we see long-term gains in employment figures, market fundamentals will con- tinue to improve and lenders
continued from page 8B Greater Reading Office Market Report
MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — Dan McGovern, vice presi- dent at CBRE, Inc. brokered a 9,874 s/f lease with The TJX Companies, Inc. at 901 Lincoln Dr. The property, owned by Hill Properties, is a class A Office Building with immediate access to Routes 73 & 70, I-295 and Exit 4 of the New Jersey Turnpike. McGovern of CBRE inks 9,874 s/f lease in Mount Laurel, NJ
continued from page 10B Princeton Office Market Report . . .
dysfunction amongst practices and causing a reshuffling of medical groups. Larger Prac- tices are positioning themselves into multiple markets, with larger geographical distances between each office. Smaller groups have been splitting up due to the pressure placed on them to invest in group owned technology and to compete with larger practices. Two hospital locations, Capi- tal Health in Hopewell, which opened this fall, and University Medical Center of Princeton, Plainsboro opening in May 2012, are creating a relocation of roughly 50-75,000 s/f of ten- ants per year for the whole mar-
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