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18 JUNE 2024
The daylong Jersey City Summit in Jersey City included an offifice panel featuring (from left) David Blumberg of 601W Cos., Jeff Gural of GFP Real Estate, Brian Lindenberg of Ares Management, David DeMatteis of Cushman & Wakefield, Jay Biggins of BLS & Co., Anthony Cammarata of Goldman Sachs and Robert Baker of Scarinci Hollenbeck, its moderator.
BRIGHTER DAYS AHEAD
Panelists bullish on Jersey City office market amid historic Bank of America lease, continued residential boom
If there were ever a time for optimism — specifically for Jersey City’s embattled office
market — it may as well come after a blockbuster 548,000-square-foot lease.
That bullishness was evident in
late May at the annual Jersey City Summit, where panelists were largely upbeat and confident that
the submarket was due for a major uptick after several challenges in recent years. Bank of America’s high-profile lease at 525 Washington Blvd. is evidence of that, they said, while noting that the city’s booming residential pipeline will support a new paradigm of companies meeting their employees where they live.
“I think you’re going to see over the next year that Jersey City is really
DeMatteis, part of the leasing team behind the BofA deal, was among seven panelists who discussed
the office market during an
event that drew more than 1,300 registered attendees. He said that, while vacancy across the Hudson waterfront is 26 percent, that total obscures the health of individual areas such as Hoboken and Newport with rates of just 1.5 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Vacancy near the Exchange
Place PATH station is 34 percent, DeMatteis said, but that’s due
in large part to the sprawling Harborside complex being “in limbo” as Veris Residential Inc., formerly Mack-Cali Realty Corp., was in the midst of selling off several buildings.
That’s now set to change under the ownership of 601W Cos., which acquired buildings 1, 2, 3 and 5 last year and is preparing to launch a major update of the nearly 3 million- square-foot portfolio.
“What’s happened over the last four years has been a game of tug of war between employees and employers,” said David Blumberg, a managing director with Manhattan-based 601W. The firm now aims to help its tenants lure workers back to the office with the addition of a fitness center, a conference center, a new bar within Harborside’s vast atrium and a rooftop deck with sweeping views of New York City.
Renderings of those amenities
David DeMatteis
going to re- establish itself as the financial service head of New Jersey,” said David DeMatteis, a broker and executive managing
director with Cushman & Wakefield, who noted there were “a lot of other deals buzzing around right now” after Bank of America’s lease late last year.
“There are going to be a number
of long-term commitments, and it’s going to be back on track.”
By Joshua Burd
Courtesy: Jersey City Summit