MAHWAH, NJ−Given the long – really long – lull in New Jersey's suburban office market activity, medium-sized construction companies such as Elmwood Park-based River Drive Construction have had to constantly forage for opportunities.

But given the rising demand for start-up and temporary space, River Drive executives tell GlobeSt.com they have found an “incredible supplement” to their business. Working with Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible work space and fully-equipped offices, the construction company lately finds itself extremely busy converting existing offices into smaller, more functional spaces.

“We go into an empty office and create four new offices out of it – new walls, new paint, new kitchen areas, whatever the demand is at the location,” says project manager Dave Wilis.

“Other times, we will re-do a full floor in a building, keeping the lobby, kitchens, bathrooms functional for the occupied offices,” Willis says. “We need to sequence construction, and we work at night and on weekends.”

In Mahwah where Regus leases space at the Crossroads Corporate Center, Marshal Boysen, a vice-president with River Drive, says there is currently a plan to transform several large offices into about two dozen smaller ones.

Mary McArthur, area director for Regus in New Jersey, says her company currently has 31 office centers in New Jersey, adding ten of those in the last two years alone. The company is planning to build up to 50 centers in New Jersey in the next several years, she says.

“We are looking to expand in central and southern New Jersey,” McArthur says. “Red Bank, Toms River, the Wall area, and as far south as Atlantic City. There is a ton of demand right now in southern New Jersey.”

There are 1800 Regus business centers worldwide. McArthur says, “I think it's the new way to work.”

Many smaller businesses find it cost-effective to have offices in New Jersey rather than New York City, she says. Others with executive offices in Manhattan find it convenient to have a “satellite office” in New Jersey.

“We can provide individuals with short-term facilities, companies with executive suites, virtual offices, conference rooms, everyone according to their needs,” McArthur says. Some clients lease space for up to ten years, she says; others lease for as short a time as three months.

"The turnover is constant," says Willis, "which works very well for us."

Instant Insights /

NJ Office Market Busy for Temp, Start-ups

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