Hill Wallack, one of the largest and fastest growing law firms in the Princeton area, announced today that they have officially moved into their new headquarters at 21 Roszel Road in West Windsor. The firm now occupies 48,000 sf, the top 2 floors of the recently constructed 62,500 sf building.
Mercer Oak Realty’s Sab Russo represented Hill Wallack on the transaction.
At 7:30 am on Thursday January 29th over 230 Princeton area professionals gathered in the Hyatt Regency Princeton to hear a panel of three local experts present their outlooks for Princeton’s 2015 real estate market. The 2nd annual Real Estate Forecast saw a 50% increase in attendance from last year.
Mercer Oak Realty’s Aubrey Haines presented the company’s Princeton Office Market Report, recounting that 2014 had been a year of significant activity and continued growth for the area.
Haines also spoke at length about the supply constraint that will be seen in the market as absorption rates have been steady and there has been little to no speculative construction of new office buildings. He highlighted larger deals that had been done in the market and also touched on evolving company culture and employee’s expectations of their work and living environments. “These changes will play a significant role in the type of space companies choose to reside in in the coming years. The Princeton market’s shortage of large available spaces and the updated work place demands make build-to-suit options very attractive.” Haines commented.
The event was hosted by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s REBA (Real Estate Business Alliance) and in addition to Aubrey Haines, the panel included Judson Henderson of Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty, Francis Keene from PNC Wealth Management and was moderated by Tom Gates of Mortgage Master.
Henderson covered Princeton’s residential real estate market and Keene spoke on the current economy. Attendees had a chance to ask the panel questions and a lively discussion ensued ranging from qualities of the Princeton market that makes it so attractive to office tenants to residential buying trends in specific Mercer County submarkets.
You can download the 2015 Princeton Office Market Report here. If you’d like to receive a hard copy, please call (609.452.0200) or email (info@merceroak.com) us.
Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to get to know one of the biggest commercial real estate projects going on in New Jersey.
CREWNJ hosted an event located at, and all about, the Bell Works building- a 2 million sf structure in Holmdel that was formerly called Bell Labs. Sitting on 472 acres, the massive campus was home to over 6,000 engineers and is considered the birthplace of a rather impressive list of inventions including: the development of the first cellular wireless voice transmission technology, the laser, technologies which help make the internet possible, the transistor, and many, many more.
Eero Saarinen, an extremely well known Finnish architect, designed the building (dubbed “The Biggest Mirror Ever” due to the reflective quality of its exterior) and by 1962 scientists were busy creating the future within its walls. Expansions occurred in 1966 and 1982.
The former Bell Labs building is a large rectangle consisting of four rectangular sections at each corner (6 floors high) connected by massive, glass filled atriums. There are corridors located on each of the 6 floors that open up to the atriums on the interior of the building. On the exterior of the building the corridors create bright, glass lined hallways. The corridors (or sky-bridges) and atriums help to connect the space and originally served as a place for scientists to walk around, smoke and chat to help break up the hours spent behind laboratory doors. Unfortunately, by the mid 2000’s the halls began to empty.
This is where the new name, Bell Works, comes in. In September 2013 it was announced that Somerset Development Corporation purchased the property for $27 million. Somerset has envisioned a redevelopment of the property- creating a Town Center for Holmdel within the massive building, eventually including some housing and outdoor recreation spaces in future phases.
Last Tuesday’s CREWNJ event presented a panel of professionals who have been working on the project: Tom Michnewicz, CEO of Somerset Development, Michael Bruno Esq. Giordano, Helleran & Ciesla, P.C. – Land Use and Redevelopment Counsel, Duane Davison, Esq. Township of Holmdel Counsel and Alexander Gorlin, Alexander Gorlin Architect, LLC.
The conversation detailed how they hope to give life back to the building while still preserving its historic importance. The mixed use environment is to include first floor retail, restaurants & bars, a hotel, fitness centers, spa, green space, and office- all centered around a pedestrian friendly “street” located in the largest central atrium space. In essence, the building will become its own mini-city. Inspiration has been taken from the classic, clean modernist design and will be meticulously applied to project moving forward.
Will this redevelopment be the grandest experiment to take place at this historic site to date?
And will it set a new example for the repurposing of outdated office space in the Garden State?
We’re looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Learn more about the Bell Works project at their website: bell.works.
County Executive Brian Hughes delivered the State of Mercer County address to 500 local officials & business leaders yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Princeton. What did he have to say about our county? Nj.com covered his speech here.
We are looking forward to the 2nd annual Princeton Real Estate Forecast coming up at the end of this month. On January 29th, our CEO, Aubrey Haines, and a panel of other Princeton area real estate professionals will be discussing their economic predictions for 2015. There was a great turn out for the 2014 Real Estate Forecast and a lot of thoughtful discussion. We look forward to an even better event this year.
If you’re free on the 29th, please join us at the Hyatt Regency Princeton for breakfast and thought provoking conversation. We hope to see you there!
Please click here to register on the Princeton Chamber website.
Details at a glance: 2015 Real Estate Forecast
Brought to you by: Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s Real Estate Business Alliance
Panel featuring: Judson Henderson (Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty), Aubrey Haines (Mercer Oak Realty), Paul Anastos (Mortgage Master) and Tom Gates (Mortgage Master) as Moderator
When: Thursday, January 29th – 7:45 am until 10:00 am (Breakfast included)
Where: Hyatt Regency Princeton
2014 is drawing to a close. The coming of the New Year is, naturally, a time of reflection. What did your 2014 hold? We hope a lot of success and fond memories.
What about in our commercial real estate world? NJBiz took some time to recap their biggest real estate stories of 2014. What made their list? Do you have any additions?
We here at Mercer Oak Realty wish you and yours a very enjoyable New Years celebration and a healthy and prosperous 2015!
We would like to take a moment to thank everyone for participating in our TASK Donation drive at PrincetonSouth this past month- it was a great success! Bags and bags of holiday gifts and non perishable food items were delivered to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen last week. It could not have happened without everyone’s help. Thank you again!
We hope you are all enjoying your holidays and look forward to a bright 2015.
We are looking to add a Broker/Salesperson to the current Mercer Oak team- does the below job description sound like you or someone you know? If so, email a cover letter & resume to info@merceroak.com. (PDF version available here: MOR Sales Person Job Description)
Sales Person Job Description
Mercer Oak Realty is seeking a driven, aggressive individual who is looking to work as a Broker/Salesperson in a fast-paced commercial real estate office in the Princeton, NJ area.
Job responsibilities include working with a team of professionals to learn the business but also requires the successful applicant be able to be a self-starter who is a people-person and someone who is looking for unlimited compensation and know that for every 100 prospective sales targets only a very few (maybe one) will turn into a closed deal.
You will need to:
Work to develop potential leads in the marketplace by soliciting business from hundreds of prospective clients. This will include phone cold-calling and canvassing buildings and require that you are quick on your feet and good at getting others to talk in potentially challenging circumstances.
Cooperate with Senior Brokers in our office to turn potential leads into closed sales. As a Junior Broker, you would uncover opportunities for tenants and buyers to acquire office space, you would introduce Senior Brokers to the prospective clients and learn the process of negotiating and closing lease deals and sales. Over time, you would become increasingly independent and able to run deals on your own and garner a larger share of the commissions.
Learn the process of transacting in commercial real estate. We would pay for you to get your real estate license and provide you with a fully-loaded database of potential clients, teach you how to solicit business, help you to create and present financial analysis, negotiate leases and discern the difference between prospective clients who are wasting your time from clients who can make you money.
Attend industry events, Chamber of Commerce Meetings, join Clubs, be a part of the fabric of the community to build relationships and become known. Mercer Oak encourages all employees to give back to the community.
We are looking for someone with:
• Sales experience, although this is not required.
• Have strong interpersonal skills.
• Proficient in the MS Office Package (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, etc)
• Must be driven, self-start, ambitious, and seeking long term career with advancement and unlimited earning potential.
• Be capable of maintaining a high energy level and have the ability to work independently, as well as a team player.
• Must be an honest person with good judgment in all business matters.
• Real estate license is required for this position, but not required to apply.
We need candidates with an outstanding entrepreneurial work ethic with great time management skills. If you have a strong interest in sales, marketing, interpersonal skills and communication skills, and have proficient computer skills, please submit your resume.
Congratulations to our friends at Archer & Greiner!
NJBiz announced their Business of the Year Awards winners last week at their annual event. We are very proud to congratulate our client, Archer & Greiner on being named the Corporate Citizen of the Year for 2014. For a full list of winners, please visit the NJBiz website.
As other regional airports struggle, Ewing’s Trenton-Mercer Airport continues to grow
Last year multiple regional airports made moves- Atlantic City International Airport added more United Airlines flights, Frontier Airlines added a stop in Wilmington, DE and People Express began service out of Newark Liberty International Airport. At the same time, Trenton-Mercer Airport spent $20 million in renovations and reopened to the public with Frontier Airlines. As of now, the Trenton-Mercer addition is the only one left standing- and its not just barely making it, its growing. NJBiz provides more details here.
Princeton is everywhere
If you’re familiar with the area you understand that just because a business, store, or corporate park has “Princeton” in the name does not mean it is actually located in the town of Princeton. Mayors from neighboring towns (whose names often get replaced by “Princeton”) weigh in and add their comments in this nj.com article. Previously this year, the cache attached to the Princeton name and how it effected corporate tenant’s location decisions was discussed also.
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