To say that this month’s cover story is near and dear to me is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it’s also true. After all, I did spend five years working on the vast stretch of sprawling, landscaped office parks that is Davidson Avenue in the Somerset section of Franklin Township, which plays a prominent role in our February issue. As many of you know, the area is part of a 500-acre corporate business district along Interstate 287 that, in recent years, has grappled with millions of square feet of outdated and mostly vacant office space. Township officials are now meeting that challenge head-on, thanks in large part to a zoning change in late 2020 that paved the way for developers to repurpose those sites as industrial space.
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.
