The Partners of Princeton based integrated design firm Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design, Joshua Zinder & Marlyn Zucosky, have been selected the Entrepreneurs of the Year by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce.
We were very happy to attend the Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s “The New Way of Work” event put together by the Real Estate Business Alliance yesterday morning.
The panel discussion, along with breakfast & networking, was held at the Springdale Golf Club in downtown Princeton.
Featured speakers included Brian Marrs (Manager, Policy & Strategic Sustainability) & Bill Walsh (Director of Corporate Facilities) at NRG Energy and our friend Marlyn Zucosky (Partner & Director of Interior Design) at Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design.
Mr. Marrs & Mr. Walsh excitedly shared a sneak peak of what NRG’s new Princeton building, located on Route 1 in Carnegie Center, will include. The 130,000 sf building will serve as NRG’s new headquarters and is a mix of sustainable design elements for the sake of the environment and also experiments of NRG initiatives. Learn more about all of the features of the project on NRG’s website, here.
Ms. Zucosky discussed trends they are currently seeing in office space design: layouts that allow for more natural light into the center of the floor plan, open work spaces, huddle areas, game room and other elements to attract Millennials to companies. Mr. Walsh commented that many of the trends JZA+D has been noticing are in fact being employed within the new NRG building. Check out some of JZA+D’s projects here.
Leaders from 6 Mercer County towns came together to discuss their individual priorities and the future success of New Jersey as a whole.
Popular topics of conversation included the NJ Transportation Trust Fund, walkable communities and NRG Energy’s new building in the breakfast hosted last week by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce.
West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, Princeton Mayer Liz Lempert, Pennington borough administrator Eileen Heinzel, Hopewell Township Mayor Harvey Lester, Hopewell Borough Mayor Paul Anzano and East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov were in attendance for the roundtable talk.
The phrase “mixed-use” has been around for a long time, but seems to be growing more prominent in conversations, news articles and online discussions each day. We’ve mentioned a few mixed-use projects in this news section in the past and have had many conversations in the office voicing different viewpoints and imagining possibilities for here in Mercer County.
We can point to a few examples of existing mixed-use environments in our backyard: downtown Princeton (Mercer Co, NJ) and Lambertville and New Hope (Hunterdon Co, NJ and Bucks Co, PA, respectively) that have been around for a long time and are very successful at being what mixed-use plans hope to be: any urban, suburban or village development (even a single building) that blends a combination of residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or industrial uses where those functions are physically and functionally integrated, and that provides pedestrian connections. Mixed-use has had a variety of exact definitions over the years and still gets used in different ways from time to time- if you are interested in digging a little deeper, this article provided by Placemakers is a good place to start to understand the nuances.
We recently attended the Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s REBA (Real Estate Business Alliance) breakfast event (Bringing Positive Change to the Princeton Region) that was centered around planning concepts that would attract millennials and empty nesters to the Princeton/Mercer region- in particular Trenton. The mixed-use concept was spoke about at length- looking at demographics and trends around the country for the targeted age groups and considering how to apply them to our backyard.
Here is an article about the sale of a long vacant building in Hightstown that hints that a mixed-use redevelopment may be in the cards. An article from earlier in the month follows the possible redevelopment of the Ocean Spray site in Bordentown into a possible “gateway into town” mixing loft style office space and possibly a brewery, yoga studio, etc.
What does this mean for the real estate landscape in Mercer County (commercial, residential, retail, industrial)? Do you see this type of project taking hold and changing our area? Or is this another fad that will pass?
We’d love to hear your thoughts and continue the conversation. You can find us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
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.
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
This morning’s MIDJersey Chamber Breakfast Forum had a great turnout, despite the cold rainy start to the day.
Attendees sipped coffee and snacked on pastries as Jerry Fennelly (NAI Fennelly), Sab Russo (Mercer Oak Realty) and David Lodato (Credit Union of New Jersey) took turns speaking about various important aspects of the current Princeton Commercial Real Estate Market. The gentlemen fielded questions from the audience after all three presentations had been given.
Sab Russo covered drivers of the market- what we’ve seen in the past during upturns and down swings, and distilled that information to help us understand what markers may present themselves to help us anticipate the next down swing. He also spoke about some changes that have been seen recently in regards to how companies are actually using their space, and how their needs have changed.
“No one can predict the future, but what we can do is study what has happened in the past, understand why it happened and use that new knowledge to help guide our clients and ourselves to more informed decisions for tomorrow.” explained Sab. “We’ve been tracking market statistics and trends since the mid 80’s- you shouldn’t live in the past, but it’s quite helpful to visit from time to time.”
Jerry Fennelly spoke at length about detailed market transactions and possible future trends in the commercial real estate market. David Lodato spent time sharing what the Credit Union has seen happening with their clients and also touched on Crowdsourcing, and how some new laws may change the game.
Mercer Oak Realty would like to extend a big thank you to the MIDJersey Chamber of Commerce for inviting us to be a part of this great event- as well as the Credit Union of NJ & V.J. Scozzari & Sons, for sponsoring and helping to organize the breakfast.
What’s your Thursday morning look like? Have time to grab a cup of coffee and danish with us?
Our President, Sab Russo will be joining MIDJersey Chamber’s Commercial Real Estate Trends in Central NJ panel this Thursday morning, October 23rd, from 8 am until 10 am at Mountain View Golf Course. Sab will be speaking along side Jerry Fennelly of NAI Fennelly and David Lodato of the Credit Union of New Jersey and then fielding attendees questions.
What trends are we currently seeing in the Commercial Real Estate Market in the area? What trends have we seen before? Can they be used to help us better understand what may happen tomorrow? Join us & find out!