SADDLE BROOK, NJ—The New Jersey office marketended the second quarter with a significant reduction inavailability and an improvement in total net absorption, accordingto CBRE's Q2 2014 New Jersey Office MarketViewReport. The market closed the quarter with 1,756,089 squarefeet of new leasing activity, up 8% from the year prior andapproximately 6% over the five-year quarterly average. Contributingto the positive momentum was a decrease in big block availability,resulting largely from activity led by Automatic SwitchCompany and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Thecorporations each took down more than 200,000 sq. ft. of space.

Grow New Jersey incentives also played a big role in theactivity, CBRE says.

“Grow New Jersey is so powerful that tenants are really taking alook at expanding here,” Jeremy Neuer, senior vicepresident of CBRE tellsGlobeSt.com exclusively. “When you talk aboutcompanies having the opportunity to locate in other places withcheaper labor markets, it's obvious that we are not just losingjobs to New York or Pennsylvania, it's a national and internationalcompetition for jobs. Our state leaders have been very aggressive.First we saw the Urban Hub Transit Tax Credit is very successfulfor companies like Panasonic andPrudential, and now we are seeing Grow New Jerseytake its place. It's got a broader reach, because it's not justlimited to those companies that are going to urban areas.”