Scotch Plains is seeking a developer after recently adopting a long-awaited redevelopment plan for its downtown, aiming to create a vibrant hub with a mix of retail, restaurants, housing, a consolidated library and town hall, public plazas and parking.
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.
ESG: An effective agent for positive change and a profitable ROI for CRE
What is ESG — or environmental, social and governance? It is basically a framework to assess how a commercial real estate portfolio manages risks and opportunities resulting from shifting conditions, market and otherwise, to environmental, social and economic systems. Environmental criteria address a company’s impact on and stewardship of the environment. Social criteria refer to how a company manages relationships with and creates value for stakeholders, such as customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders. Governance criteria refer to a company’s leadership and management philosophy, practices, policies, internal controls and shareholder rights, including diversity, equity and inclusion and transparency of procedures and decision-making.
Jumping in
Call me provincial, but I’m always fascinated these days when I hear that an established investor, developer or retailer that operates nationally is only now finding its way into the New Jersey market. With our labor pool, our consumer base and the all-important draw of being a discount from New York City, one can’t help but wonder what took them so long in the first place — especially in an expansion that goes back more than a decade.
Editor’s note: What’s new in 2022
We’re excited to kick off another year of Real Estate NJ and The Briefing, our must-read daily email blast with all of the latest deals, developments and people news in New Jersey commercial real estate. This year, we are coming to you with an expanded version of the newsletter, including an industry events calendar and additional stories you may have missed, along with other features that you’ll see in the months ahead.
On the money
I’ve spent a decade watching Devco tackle some of the state’s largest, most ambitious redevelopment projects with complex capital stacks and broad coalitions of stakeholders. It’s a topic that we feature in this month’s cover story, which follows a year in which the organization broke ground on more than $1.5 billion worth of development. That makes it all the more timely for us to highlight an operation that is seemingly unlike any other developer in New Jersey.