We assembled a panel of industry experts to tackle this month’s question. Here’s what they had to say: Cory Atkins, principal, Atkins Cos. (West Orange) The health care real estate sector has remained strong over the past several years despite…
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.
Bearing fruit
I’m as guilty as anyone of overusing words like “transformative” when it comes to major redevelopment projects. But it seems in some instances like there’s no avoiding it. A case in point is a plan for Woodbridge’s Metropark train station, where surface parking lots will become a new office and ambulatory care center spanning nearly 250,000 square feet, as well as 235 luxury apartments and retail space. If you ask me, that seems transformative enough.
Our cover story this month is a deep dive on that project, which Hackensack Meridian Health unveiled in early March alongside Gov. Phil Murphy and a team that includes Russo Development, Onyx Equities and Dinallo Development.
Making connections: How Morristown’s HQ Plaza will engage residents, visitors with new public-facing spaces
The renovation of Morristown’s landmark Headquarters Plaza will look to energize the sprawling concourse that connects three office towers, a Hyatt Regency hotel and a host of retailers and restaurants under the roof of the 1 million-square-foot complex. Not to be overlooked is the idea that the refreshed property will also engage the community in a way that it hasn’t in decades, taking cues from the town’s other recent redevelopment projects.
Going greener: From rainwater recycling to composting, apartment builders see a new frontier in sustainability
For some apartment developers, LED lighting and electric vehicle chargers just won’t do when it comes to sustainability. A handful of new rental projects in New Jersey are making that clear with more cutting-edge, eco-conscious features such as oversized green spaces, rainwater recycling and even an on-site composting system.
A closer look
I’d venture to say that green design is still underappreciated as a practice and as an industry within the broader commercial real estate sector. I’ll even take some ownership of that, as someone who is meant to highlight where the market is and where it’s going in the great state of New Jersey, including the increasingly important topic of sustainability. That’s our focus in this month’s cover story, where we explore some of the more cutting-edge, eco-conscious features that multifamily builders are weaving into their projects. That includes everything from rainwater recycling to on-site composting systems that produce fertilizer for landscaping, as we find in a new luxury rental property in Jersey City. Halpern Real Estate Ventures, the developer of what’s known as Birch House, says those choices stem from the firm’s own corporate philosophy and a desire to meet the market where it’s going, even if those features are not quite widespread in New Jersey (not yet, anyway).
