The Park in Berkeley Heights is entering a new phase, with its office space now fully renovated and construction underway on new residential, retail and hospitality segments that will create a new town square for workers and residents alike. And The Connell Co. has already taken steps toward opening the campus to the public — from social events to gym memberships — all with a level of branding and merchandising that is unlike anything seen at other commercial properties in the state.
Current Issue
Go inside the latest monthly issue of Real Estate NJ, the only New Jersey-based magazine dedicated to commercial real estate in the Garden State.
A new approach to housing policy where everyone wins
As New Jersey’s gubernatorial race heats up, housing remains a critical issue. Everyone agrees that we need more market-rate and affordable housing to meet demand, and there is also a consensus that housing prices in New Jersey are too high. But what can the government do differently to address these issues? Policymakers and our next governor need to acknowledge that current government policies are exacerbating these problems, not solving them.
Busy times ahead
As you’ll read in this month’s cover story, the 1.1-square-mile community is benefiting from a flurry of activity in recent years, including the completion of three projects with a combined 450 housing units and new retail space as part of a coordinated plan to revitalize its downtown. That effort is more than two decades in the making, meaning officials there are eager to continue that momentum with the balanced but collaborative strategy that has attracted new investment and outside recognition.
Optimism for CRE in the new year
Overhauling the Energy Master Plan is an opportunity for impacted stakeholders, like you, to help improve what is currently an unrealistic policy document that has done little to accelerate achieving its lofty goals. Perhaps most striking about the current EMP is it lacks an unbiased estimate of what it’ll cost ratepayers, including commercial real estate owners and tenants. Gov. Phil Murphy acknowledged this glaring omission when he announced the 2024 EMP will “seek to better capture economic costs and benefits, as well as ratepayer impacts.”
Real Estate NJ’s 2025 Market Forecast
Commercial real estate leaders have entered 2025 with varying levels of optimism. That’s evident from this year’s Real Estate NJ Market Forecast, where you’ll find everything from caution to confidence about how the sector will perform as it balances strong fundamentals in several key asset classes with new regulatory headwinds, nagging inflation and what seems to be a lingering lack of clarity over when lower interest rates will truly impact the industry.
You can read all about it in our 2025 Market Forecast, which features predictions and insights from some of the state’s leading voices in commercial real estate.
Fully mobilized: Greek, chair of new ‘Circulate NJ’ coalition, sees breadth of membership as key to promoting logistics industry’s impact (and curbing misinformation)
Let there be no confusion: Circulate NJ is not a lobbying group, as David Greek is quick to point out, but a well-organized, diverse coalition that has assembled to promote the vast economic benefits of New Jersey’s logistics sector.
That message is at the heart of the new public awareness campaign that launched shortly before Thanksgiving, led by a membership that includes not just prominent developers but stakeholders ranging from dock workers and truckers to the likes of Amazon. All of which have a vested interest in promoting their collective industry and, in turn, defusing the hostile rhetoric and misinformation that has derailed a growing number of warehouse projects in recent years.
Cautious optimism: Developers, advocates say new DCA guidance brings much-needed structure to affordable housing debate
The path is by no means clear, not even by the most optimistic accounts. But new guidelines on addressing New Jersey’s affordable housing deficit is a key starting point for builders and advocates as they mull the next phase of residential development in the state. Stakeholders have said as much in recent weeks, conveying cautious optimism even as they grapple with the financial hurdles, legal battles and political debates that have slowed housing production in the past.
