SOMERSET, NJ-A new first-quarter market report, this one from Cassidy Turley, piles on the positive reviews the state's industrial market has been getting lately, noting “stellar” leasing in The Meadowlands and a 5% drop in vacancy at Exit 12 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
Gary Gabriel from Cushman & Wakefield may have been among the first to sound the mantra: “Industrial is the new multifamily” when he spoke of the sector's burgeoning strength at a recent RealShare breakfast in Newark. There is a rising chorus from various analysts, however.
Cassidy Turley said the market is continuing to “gather steam,” with 679,329 square feet of positive absorption in the first three months of the year and growth for the second continuous quarter.
Overall vacancy rates for northern and central Jersey declined to 7.5%, from 7.7% at the end of 2012. Meanwhile, the average asking rental rate of $5.75 per square foot has steadily increased since the first quarter of 2011. At that recessionary low point, rates had slumped to $5.61 per square foot.
Other conclusions about Q1 from the report:
- There was “stellar” leasing activity in The Meadowlands, with 901,908 square feet of positive absorption, more activity than in all other submarkets in Northern New Jersey combined.
- In Central New Jersey, there was 1.5 million square feet of positive absorption, which is more than was absorbed in all of 2012.
- In Central Jersey, the Exit 12 (New Jersey Turnpike) was the top performer with 876,705 square feet of positive demand, causing the vacancy rate to fall by 5.1%, to 7.2%.
The vacancy rate in the central part of the state was down, to 7.9% from 8.4% at year-end 2012; average asking rates increased to $4.43 per square foot, for the first time since 2010.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
