B — January 17 - 30, 2014 — New Jersey — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
S outhern N ew J ersey WCRE finds strengthening fundamentals throughout 2013, hinting at a strong 2014 Report: 4th quarter caps a year of mostly solid growth in Southern NJ commercial real estate M ARLTON, NJ — Though there was some moderation in tive trends during the fourth quarter and the year, with the market again proving its resiliency. sions and new deals remained strong this quarter, with net absorption at approximately 102,294 s/f. year. The national unemploy- ment rate stood at 7% as the year ended.
stabilization of rents, a pend- ing mega-deal for a 24-build- ing office/flex portfolio, and a great deal of prospecting setting up a high number of transactions that will con- summate in the early part of the new year. There were ap- proximately 374,121 s/f of new leases and renewals executed in the three counties sur- veyed, which was a decline of nearly 1.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. But for the year WCRE reported +/-1,625,190 s/f of total activ- ity, compared to +/-1,419,276 s/f in 2012. Notably, expan-
The two most noteworthy developments in the quar- terly report were the further reduction of the region’s va- cancy rate, which now is down to approximately 15%, and Liberty Property Trust’s (NYSE: LRY) announcement that its entire office/flex port- folio in the region was put un- der agreement. The portfolio comprises 1,188,285 s/f in 24 buildings. Other office market highlights from the report: • Average rents for class A & B product continue to show strong support in the range of $11.00-$14.00/s/f NNN or $21.00-$24.00/s/f gross, with an overall market average showing strong support in the $11.00-$11.50/s/f NNN or $21.00-$21.50/s/f gross for the deals completed during the fourth quarter. This is es- sentially unchanged from the previous quarter. • Moorestown, Marlton and Mount Laurel (3M) continue to show strength, while a large share of the region’s vacancies remain in Voorhees, Pennsauken, and the west side of Cherry Hill. Burl- ington County continued to maintain a significantly lower vacancy rate than Camden County. • There was a very active pipeline of deals that will be completed soon, covering ap- proximately 400,000 s/f. • All of the major private owners and REITS showed a significant increase in pros- pect activity for the quarter, and are all cautiously opti- mistic for 2014. WCRE also reported on the local retail market, not- ing that even amid weak holiday sales figures, retail leasing activity in the region was strong, with owners cau- tiously optimistic. Highlights from the retail section of the report include: • Overall retail vacancy in the tri-county area is hover- ing around 10.7%, marking tremendous improvement from the end of 2012, when it was hovering in the 17-18% range. • Class A retail product rental rates continue to show strong support in the range of $30.00-$40.00/s/f NNN. • Class B product shows support in the range of $15.00- $23.00/s/f NNN. n
leasing ac- tivity in the fourth quar- ter of 2013, overall the year was a strong one for commercial real estate that l ike l y
“Total leasing activity was slightly off this quarter com- pared with the fourth quarter of 2012, but we saw 14.5% growth in activity in our market in 2013,” said Jason Wolf , founder and principal of WCRE. “As exciting as it is to report this surge, based on the conditions in place, we expect 2014 to be even stronger.” According to WCRE, the fourth quarter featured a very busy market, with further
The report noted that strong demand in the local market has been powered in part by the continuing nationwide economic rebound. The stock market achieved several re- cord high closes, finishing the year up 26%, and both New Jersey’s and the nation’s un- employment rates improved. New Jersey’s unemployment rate closed the fourth quarter at 7.8%, falling nearly two full points over the course of the
Jason Wolf
paved the way for an even better 2014, WCRE said in its latest quarterly analysis. The report by the Southern New Jersey firm noted many posi-
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