"Northern New Jersey leasing activity registered more than 1.6million sf this quarter," says Gil Medina, executive managingdirector at Cushman & Wakefield, East Rutherford. "Thisindicates that despite the declining economy and slower pace ofactivity, some companies appear to be less apprehensive than othersin terms of making space commitments."

Overall, though, vacancies are up a bit. C&W's numbers showa North Jersey vacancy rate of 16%, up 0.3% from the end of 2007,and Central Jersey vacancies up 2.2 points to 20.3%, although muchof that is attributable to Lucent's departure from 101 CrawfordsRd. in Holmdel. Figures from GVA Williams NJ, Parsippany,meanwhile, show a combined North/Central office vacancy at the endof Q1 at 17.8%, up from 17.6% last quarter but down from more than17.9% a year ago.

"Uncertainty for New Jersey's future business climate has causedan increase in tenants remaining in their current spaces andseeking shorter-term leases," says Matt Dolly, GVA Williams NJ'sdirector of research. "As a result, office leasing velocity hasconsiderably slowed during Q1. With tenants staying put, occupancyin landlords' portfolios has increased, and with a lack of newconstruction, rents have actually started to rise."