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.
Monday, May 4th the YMCA of Trenton hosted their 10th Annual Golf Outing. Mercer Oak Realty’s President Sab Russo was in attendance and played in a foursome with Tim Aker, (Treasurer, Hopewell Valley Baseball & Softball Association), Randi Koss (Account Executive, Innovative Commercial Interiors) and Paul March (Managing Director, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank).
72 golfers participated in the event at Greenacres Country Club- all for a good cause. Proceeds help raise funds to send kids to summer camp who may not otherwise have the opportunity through the Summer Camp Scholarship Fund for Trenton Youth. This year’s event was the best golf outing to date for the YMCA of Trenton.
To learn more about what the YMCA of Trenton (serving Trenton, Lawrence and Ewing) is doing in the community, please visit their website: http://trentonymca.org/.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
