Avison Young New Jersey's first quarter 2020 report explores the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and said users in the office market were looking for space that was higher quality, but had a smaller size footprint.

"This trend is expected to intensify as a result of this crisis, which has shown companies how much business is possible to be accomplished over the phone and video conferencing," according to the report. "This change in the way companies conduct their business will force landlords to update their properties to meet the new reliance on alternative communication channels."

The report notes that the federal $2.2 trillion package provides direct aid to small businesses, individual people corporations and municipalities. It also notes that New Jersey is coming up with programs to give grants and low-interest loans to businesses of small and medium size.

"Although our team has focused on developing an insightful and detailed look into both the office and industrial real estate sectors for this year's first quarter, we can't ignore the new Covid-19 realitys," said Jeff Heller, principal and managing director of Avison Young New Jersey, in prepared remarks. "In that sense, we have included further information and analysis on what the government is currently doing and what we can expect from the market in the months to come."

The report outlined major office real estate deals done in the first quarter, including Harbor Group International's purchase of a 866,706-square-foot property in Jersey City. It was sold for almost $373 million.

Other major deals included John P. Holland Charter School's leasing of 5 Garret Mountain Plaza in Woodland Park and Opal Holdings' purchase of Park Avenue at Morris County.

Opal Holdings bought the 1.16 million-square-foot complex for $311 million, according to the report.

The leasing deal for the newly renovated 5 Garret Mountain Plaza, a 100,000 square foot lease, is one of the largest leasing transactions of the quarter.

Instant Insights /

New Jersey Office Users Look for High-Quality Space With a Small Footprint

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