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!
GlaxoSmithKline’s looming job cuts
Earlier this fall it became known that GlaxoSmithKline, British drugmaker, was planning a restructuring of their U.S. operations over the next three years. GSK plans to eliminate $1.57 billion in annual expenses. Details began to surface early this week (read more on njbiz.com) and fears that some of the jobs located in the Parsippany office would be lost began to grow. Once Wednesday rolled around, GSK had announced that there would be significant (upwards of 900 jobs) cuts from North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park and consolidations would happen in Philadelphia offices, with no firm news on New Jersey jobs(details at philly.com).
Camden’s mystery company revealed
Monday morning brought us news from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority: $100 million more incentives and 1,000 jobs were heading to Camden. (full story at Philadelphia Business Journal) At the time, there was no official disclosure of what company would be creating those jobs, although there were suspicions about who it could be. Suspicions were confirmed today when Subaru announced that they would be moving to the Campbell Gateway district. (follow-up article from the Philadelphia Business Journal with new information)
Expanding definition of sustainability
Generally, when one thinks of sustainable practices in office buildings green roofs, rainwater collection and solar panels come to mind. While these are all helpful, companies are finding different ways to be more green. Wyndham Worldwide has a headquarters campus in Parsippany that is prime example on the evolution of a company’s sustainability policy. (learn about it on njbiz.com here)
Ground Breaking on Route 1
NRG Energy, a power generation and retail electricity business, broke ground on its new 130,000 sf Headquarters this week in West Windsor. NRG currently occupies about 90,000 sf in the Princeton market- in 2 buildings. $37.5 million in tax incentives are helping the company consolidate and move less than a mile across Route 1, where the new, environmentally sustainable facility will feature a living wall, 2 solar panel fields, rainwater collection, wind turbines, electric vehicle charging stations (along with a myriad of other green features) and house 540 employees; 386 of which are existing and about 150 will be new.
NRG CEO, David Crane made the following statement during his remarks at the ceremony: “None of us will have a full appreciation of this new building until it’s fully built and outfitted and occupied. At that point, I think we will really recognize that it’s not just another suburban office spot, but rather a living and breathing organism that hopefully every day will inspire its inhabitants to accomplish great and important things.”
Is this a taste of what is to come in the Princeton market? Read the full story on the NRG Groundbreaking here, on nj.com.
Tax Credits to Cash
The New Jersey Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) Program allows companies to sell NJ tax losses and/or research and development tax credits to unaffiliated, profitable corporate taxpayers in the State. Advantix, a biochemical company based in Princeton, announced its preliminary approval for a $1.9 million 2014 tax credit that it plans to transfer to $1.7 million in cash. Get the details on njbiz.com, here.
Princeton REIT CEO Steps Down
Chambers Street Properties Founder, CEO & President Jack Cuneo announced that he is retiring. Chambers Street Properties is a real estate investment trust in Downtown Princeton and was founded in 2004. The company is currently seeking a replacement. Njbiz.com has a full write-up on this announcement.
4100 Quakerbridge Road, a 17 acre site south of the Quakerbridge Mall was sold to Costco for $9.4 million this week. Costco’s plans for the site are 156,000 sf worth of retail space including: a liquor store, pharmacy, optical services section, tire sales & installation and a 16 pump gas station- all of which should provide employment to 200 people.
The town became aware of Costco’s interest in the site when the then owner, United States Land Resources of Morristown requested a zoning change for the piece of property, over two years ago. Originally it was zoned for senior housing, but the argument was made that highway commercial would mix well in the area and the planning board approved the change.
This store will be the only Costco in Mercer County.
On Wednesday, Hamilton township officials announced that the 1-million square foot Congoleum plant on Sloan Avenue in Hamilton, NJ was sold.
The plant’s location makes it an interesting opportunity to develop. It is situated very close to major highways, creating easy access and also extremely close to the Hamilton Train Station, leading some to wonder if the plan will include attempts to created a mixed-use, rail oriented space.
Read the full story on the Congoleum factory sale at nj.com, here.
Urban crawl: After many years, the time is right for towns to create urban pockets where none exists
Urban renewal has worked in Montclair. It has worked in Morristown.
But what can developers and local officials do when they have no urban center to renew?
They can create one.
The owners of the property in Hopewell formerly owned by Merrill Lynch have decided to abandon the current zoning, which calls for office use. They are seeking new zoning that would allow a proposed development dominated by multi-family with some retail and 94,000 sf of office (down from 1,000,000+ sf of office). Recently, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that they would develop a site that they own at I-95 and Princeton Pike for their own use. BMS plans to start construction shortly on a 650,000 sf campus on their 100+ acre property in Lawrenceville. These two developments significantly reduces the potential supply of Class A office sites in the I-95 corridor. This will drive up demand for the remaining I-95 Corridor sites as well as properties along the southern portion of the Route One corridor and will bolster the value of the existing limited supply of existing and proposed Class A space in this submarket.
Read the story- Hopewell Township: Steps needed for Scotch Road project on centraljersey.com
Mercer Oak Realty was in attendance last week at the recently renovated Wyndham Garden on West Lafayette Street in the Capitol City as MIDJersey Chamber welcomed Trenton’s newly-elected Mayor Eric Jackson and learned more about the Trenton250 plan.
Opening remarks were delivered by the Honorable Eric Jackson, a Capitol City native and Fairleigh Dickinson graduate. Jackson had a 17 year career with the City of Trenton before taking the position of City Public Works Director in Plainfield, NJ and then returning to Trenton in July, this time as Mayor.
Mayor Jackson addressed the business community and made it clear that he was grateful for their support and aware of how important local industry is to helping Trenton realize its full potential.
“Having a Mayor in office who understands the role that the local business community can play in the revitalization of Trenton is key. The current GrowNJ tax incentives make Trenton an especially attractive option for a large company headquarters, creating a nearly rent-free scenario for up to 10 years in certain cases. For example, a property we represent, the proposed Vista Center, is an approved 25-story LEED platinum office tower located directed across from the Trenton Transit Center. That incentive package, coupled with a business friendly atmosphere and responsible government is integral to drawing a large company and up to 1,000 employees to Trenton. An influx of professionals spending their days in Trenton, many of them eventually moving there to be closer to work, would do wonders to kick-start the economy.” explains Sab Russo, President of Mercer Oak Realty.
The Trenton250 team presented its concept for achieving a community driven long-range Master Plan to guide Trenton through its 250th Anniversary (which will be in 2042). The concept behind Trenton250 is to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of Trenton- its strengths and its weaknesses- and use that to create a vision that capitalizes on the city’s unique assets, and addresses its problem areas. Trenton250 is hoping to engage the community in every step of the process through various in-person and online forms.
Check out Trenton250.org to learn more about the plan and become part of the discussion.
We look forward to seeing Trenton move forward into a bright future.