2C — July 25 - August 14, 2014 — Brokerage Directory — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
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Scott Mertz, SIOR & John Adderly, NAI Mertz Southern New Jersey: What’s in it for you?
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count for approximately 42% ($464.5 million) of the $1.1 bil- lion awarded thus far. Over the long run, Southern New Jersey stands to be the bigger gainer, as pockets of the region have the precise make-up to capital- ize on the full extent of the Act. The biggest beneficiaries of the EOA in Southern New Jer- sey have been the City of Cam- den and the firms who have opted to relocate there. Within the past month, two mega-deals in Camden were announced by the NJ Economic Development Authority – the relocation of the Philadelphia 76ers practice fa- cility to the CamdenWaterfront
and the construction of a new manufacturing plant by Holtec International in the city’s port district. The 76ers received a tax credit award of $82 million, while Holtec received a near record $260 million in state aid. Between the two projects, over 3,200 jobs are expected to be created or retained. Activity in Southern New Jersey has not been restricted to EOA related projects. Burl- ington County, particularly in the Route 130 corridor through Burlington City and Florence, has been highly successful at attracting and retaining firms over in recent years. Offer-
ing quick access to both the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpikes, the area has seen several large scale development projects recently. Burlington Coat Factory has opted to re- main in the county that gives the firm its name and build a new 200,000 s/f corporate head- quarters slated for completion in 2015. Destination Maternity broke ground in the Haines Center on a new state-of-the- art 400,000 s/f build-to-suit distribution center. With large parcels still available, the area should continue to garner in- terest from firms seeking to locate a distribution center or corporate headquarters. On the office front, we haven’t seen a lot of pure absorption as some larger users in the market continue to retract. However, the spaces they are vacating tend to be highly desirable and that coupled with the continued improvement of the economy have owners optimistic that improvements in absorption are on the horizon. Eds and Meds are still the two user groups consistently absorbing office space in the region. In Gloucester County, Rowan University continues to grow and the area around it continues to be a hot bed of development activity. The ma- jor hospital systems have all increased their footprints over the past few years and there are underserved areas where con- tinued expansion seems likely. We are keeping a keen eye on the gambling shakeout in Atlantic City - with one casino closed and more potential clo- sures coming in the next few months. While the casino in- dustry isn’t a big driver in the office and industrial markets here in Gloucester, Camden and Burlington Counties - a strong Atlantic City is good for jobs and the markets here. We feel that Atlantic City will substantially benefit in the long term from the diversification of its offerings, notably the retail sector with the attraction of new retailers, such as Bass Pro Shops, along with the expan- sion of existing retail outlets. Additionally, the new 250,000 s/f convention center open- ing next to Harrah’s should bring new corporate events and tradeshows to the city. Southern New Jersey re- mains very vibrant and we believe that between the under- lying strength of the business continued on page 23C
ecent headlines in Southern New Jersey are providing a case
stagnation in job creation, New Jersey passed the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) in 2013,
study for the effectiveness of the latest l e g i s l a t i on enac t ed by the State of New Jersey to spur eco- nomic growth and job cre-
consolidating its existing incentive pro- grams int o two r obus t programs de- signed to spur j ob gr owth and develop- ment. Since
Scott Mertz
John Adderly
ation. While the Garden State may not have been hit as hard with job losses at the onset of the recession, it has been slow- er to recover those lost jobs. To aggressively combat that
the enactment of the EOA, more awards have been ap- proved for Northern New Jer- sey – 35 awards to 10 for the southern part of the State. However, those 10 projects ac-
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