Editor’s Note
Win-win
It doesn’t take long to realize that golf and commercial real estate go hand in hand, but it was only recently that I learned of a new, rather unexpected connection. It comes by way of Old Bridge in Middlesex County, where the developer of a new nine-building, 4.2 million-square-foot industrial park has just opened an 18-hole public golf club on more than 200 acres. As you’ll read in this month’s cover story, the two properties are roughly three miles apart but are both critical pieces of the plan by 2020 Acquisitions.
A proud moment as NJIT’s Newark Startup Studio graduates 45 minority entrepreneurs
I hope you’ll indulge me this morning as I highlight a proud moment for all of us at Real Estate NJ. It came at this week’s Newark Summit, where New Jersey Institute of Technology President Teik Lim addressed the hundreds that were assembled in downtown Newark.
On the job
As you’ll read in this month’s cover story, veteran planner and public policy expert Dan Kennedy has a full plate of advocacy issues ranging from flood hazard and stormwater regulations to infrastructure and stranded assets. Fortunately, he brings nearly two decades of experience that includes key roles in state government and six years with the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey.
Adaptation
The glory days of near-zero vacancy and hard-to-fathom rent growth in the industrial market always came with the slightest bit of tension, especially among veteran landlords who know full well that nothing lasts forever. And with good reason, as we now know, as the asset class grapples with new headwinds that may not have seemed likely only two years ago.
Changing times
As you’ll read in this month’s cover story, redevelopment is coming to some of New Jersey’s largest malls — from the mecca of Paramus to Burlington County — as owners and local officials mull the future of their cherished shopping centers. Increasingly, those plans call for bringing new apartments, health care facilities and vibrant public spaces meant to create new foot traffic. Many of these projects are now moving forward in the Garden State, with more to follow, despite pockets of opposition and the challenge of repurposing a sprawling property with longstanding anchor tenants.
