10B — September 28 - October 11, 2012 — Fall Preview — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
N ewark O ffice S pecialist
By Miles Berger, The Berger Organization Newark’s office rebirth fuels city-wide renaissance
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leases, particularly in the city’s downtown area. The Military Park Building (60 Park Place) is case in point. Earlier this year, the building reached 99 percent occupancy after 70,000 square feet of new and renewed leases, and a jump from 75 percent occu- pancy in the four years since we acquired the property. Our other Newark office properties have seen similar activity. Over the past year a grow- ing number of companies have been moving from the suburbs into Newark. This is a clear
sign that New Jersey’s largest city is evolving as a true met- ropolitan center where people come to work and, eventually, to live. Several major projects have been launched downtown that will create a daytime population that hasn’t been seen here in a very long time. Among them is the new North American headquarters for Panasonic, which Matrix De- velopment Group and SJP Properties are developing at One Riverfront Center—a relocation from the suburbs,
by the way. Approximately 1,000 Panasonic employees will come to Newark on a daily basis. Also, Prudential Financial is set to build a new office tower on Broad Street to house 2,000 employees. For more than three decades, the sight has been desolate and abandoned, an eyesore that has hurt the image of downtown. A clear sign of what’s to come: On the Friday before Labor Day, it was very en- couraging to see the Pruden-
continued on page 12B Location, location, loca- tion…proximity to New York City certainly plays a role in Newark’s growing presence as a destination, business and otherwise. It is an outstand- ing cost alternative to Man- hattan for companies, their employees, and visitors alike. Newark Penn Station offers 15-minute transit to Manhat- tan with trains running 24/7. tial site’s adjacent parking lot closed down, a four-story parking lot sign toppled, the electric gates pulled out and the entrance sealed to traffic. That was the first visible sign that the project is beginning. After waiting for this since we bought the Best Western Robert Treat hotel in the mid-1980s, it is gratifying to see that Prudential is making such a major commitment to the city. With construction of Pru- dential’s first building, and possibly a second, the entire Military Park areawill change for the better and provide an uplift to a section of Broad Street that has been desolate for the past 35 years. Com- bined with the multi-million- dollar renovation of Military Park itself, which Prudential owns, these improvements will establishMilitary Park as the centerpoint of Newark. The impact of these projects and others has been dramat- ic—from an increasing num- ber of restaurant openings to support Newark’s daytime population and the traffic being generated by entertain- ment venues like Prudential Center and NJPAC, to a hos- pitality market that also is heating up. For example, the Best Western Robert Treat Hotel has seen a significant jump in occupancy—Smith Travel Research has reported that the Robert Treat and its competitors saw average oc- cupancies increase across the board last year. Courtyard byMarriott broke ground inApril for a 150-room hotel – the first new hotel in downtown Newark in 39 years – right outside the Prudential Center Arena. Additionally, Indigo Hotel has proposed a boutique 100-room property just two blocks away—and all of this is in large part at- tributable to the momentum generated by Newark’s office market.
n 2012, the office market in Newark has continued to gain momentum, fu-
eled by eco- nomi c im- provement, i t s p r i me geographic location and by the city’s growing rep- utation as a destination,
Miles Berger
business and otherwise. More tenants have been requesting space showings, expressing serious interest and signing
The Berger Organization
Military Park Building
570 Broad
Robert Treat Center
The Fireman’s Insurance Building
Providing Premier Office Space in Newark’s Finest Business Districts
Newark is poised to experience unprecedented growth and renewal with the construction of the new Panasonic headquarters and Prudential’s major Military Park development. The Berger Organization continues to play a key role in supporting Newark’s growth and enhancing its position as New Jersey’s destination of choice for businesses, today and into the future.
Berger Organization www.bergerorg.com
For more information contact: Brendan Berger at 973-623-3300 • brendan@bergerorg.com
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