For Matrix, 2000 Has Been a Very Good Year

CRANBURY, NJ-If there is any further need to prove just how hot New Jersey’s real estate market has been this year, one only has to read the reports being issued by some of the key players in terms of what they’ve done to date. In most cases, those reports are stunning, to say the least.

The latest comes from the Matrix Development Group, based in Cranbury, NJ, hard by the fabled NJ Turnpike Exit 7A and 8A region that has been absolutely sizzling, especially for industrial space. Through the end of August, Matrix has tallied more than 2.5 million sf of space in projects either already underway or scheduled to begin this year, according to company president/CEO Joseph Taylor. “Certainly, the strong local and national economy has been a major factor in the fact that we’re so busy,” he says.

The list of projects includes a 528,000-sf spec W/D facility in the company’s CenterPoint at 8A project, located in South Brunswick, about 30 miles south of Newark. CenterPoint at 8A is also the site of a new 204,000-sf W/D facility for the Appliance Dealers Co-op. The park is also home to Volkswagen of America, Siemens Medical Systems, Shaw Industries and Sony of America.

Northeast Business Park at Exit 7A, located about 15 miles further south down the Turnpike, meanwhile, is the site of a 550,000-sf (with a 150,000-sf expansion) distribution center for Lifetime Hoan Corp.; a 200,000-sf warehouse and manufacturing facility for the Jack Morton Co.’s fabrication division; and a one million-sf W/D facility for Seaman’s Furniture Co.

Matrix hasn’t done too badly on the office side either, according to Taylor. So far this year the worksheet includes a 1.3 million-sf HQ complex in Lawrence Twp., Mercer County, for RCN Corp. (Matrix is the development manager). The company is also obtaining approvals for a 150,000-sf spec class A building in Branchburg, Somerset County. In New Brunswick, where it recently leased 50,000 sf of office space at Matrix I and II, Matrix is currently obtaining approvals to build 800 apartments and a parking deck on adjoining property.