The Princeton market is seeing a trend- companies moving to new space not because they need to expand, or shrink- but because they want an upgrade. Current building stock, an uptick in the economy in general and the need to create a work environment that will attract quality talent are all helping to herd companies toward higher quality buildings. Landlords with lower rental rates are helping, too.
NJBiz uses these words (in the article linked below) to describe suburban corporate campuses in New Jersey- with enough combined square footage to fill five Empire State Buildings.
PlanSmart NJ has taken on the task of developing a “toolkit” of sorts for municipalities to begin to deal with the 14.5 million square feet of vacant, obsolete office and/or lab space in 94 of the state’s largest (over 200K sf) buildings. These campuses that dot New Jersey’s suburban landscape are often referred to as “stranded assets” and will need some creative thinking to reposition them.
“We’re looking at it holistically — that this is an economic development project, it’s an environmental protection project, it’s a resource efficiency project,” said Ann Brady, PlanSmart NJ’s executive director. “We think there’s a lot of opportunity with these sites, to better connect them to the greater community, to use the infrastructure that’s already there, so we’re directing growth to areas where there’s already existing infrastructure.”
Oftentimes municipalities fear redevelopment, rezoning and mixed-use projects. PlanSmart NJ “hopes to frame the issue by quantifying the problem” with “a major two-year research project that will compile data on vacancy, demographics, property tax appeals and other metrics related to the sites, with the aim of creating a guidebook for local officials and sparking a policy change that could help them find new life as mixed-use assets”.
We’ve posted a lot about New Jersey’s current incentive packages aimed at both retaining current jobs and businesses within the state’s borders and also attempting to attract new businesses and jobs.
There are both fans and critics of these programs, as with most things. In an attempt to get an unbiased answer on whether or not these incentive packages are doing their job- Rutgers University has been given the task of figuring just that out and will start researching and releasing reports in the next 3 years.
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.
Clark Machemer, the Rockefeller Group’s senior vice president and regional development officer, was recently announced as NAIOP New Jersey’s new President. He is a 15 year member and previously served as the chapter’s vice president for public affairs.
Both Choose New Jersey & the Economic Development Authority recently brought on new CEOs: Michele Brown and Melissa Orsen, respectively. Both groups work towards improving the business and economic climate in the state.
Learn more about Choose New Jersey and Michele Brown’s plan for helping the Garden State attract & retain business.
Check out the Economic Development Authority’s role and why Melissa Orsen was the best choice for the position.
Mercer Oak Realty is happy to announce that Philadelphia Insurance Companies has signed a lease for the entire 4th floor at 100 PrincetonSouth Corporate Center.
This lease brings 100 & 200 PrincetonSouth to 85% occupancy.
Learn more about the deal at nj.com or NJB Magazine.
For information on remaining space at PrincetonSouth, please see our properties page.
This past Saturday, Dawn Stillwell and Jacquie Palma of Mercer Oak Realty braved the cold and ran in the Cupid’s Chase 5K in Princeton. The race is held by the national non-profit Community Options, Inc. and raises money to benefit people with disabilities by providing them with housing and employment support.
Dawn and Jacquie were joined by Angelique Flynn of SERVPRO of Bordentown. The ladies showed their support for the cause by donning red and white shirts and running in last weekend’s frigid temperatures.
This is the seventh year for Cupid’s Chase. The race was held in over 30 cities around the country and raised in excess of $200,000 to support people with disabilities. The Princeton race raised nearly $8,000, exceeding their goal of $7,000.
If you would like to join the Mercer Oak team in future 5Ks or know of a good cause to run for please contact Dawn Stillwell.
To learn more about Community Options please visit their website.