490 First Avenue in St. Petersburg, Florida — Courtesy: Denholtz Associates
By Joshua Burd
Denholtz Associates recorded some 1 million square feet of leasing activity in 2016, including about 700,000 square feet in New Jersey and a deal with a major publishing company in Florida.
In a news release Tuesday, the Matawan-based firm said it executed 161 new leases and renewals in the Garden State last year, totaling 706,383 square feet. Those deals included Fujitsu General America’s renewal for 27,829 square feet and 3,750-square-foot expansion at the Fairfield Business Center in Fairfield, the largest New Jersey deal highlighted by Denholtz.
In Florida, the firm touted its 110,000-square-foot deal with Times Publishing Co. at 490 First Avenue in St. Petersburg. The company is the anchor tenant at the 240,000-square-foot property, which Denholtz acquired earlier in the year.
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CEO Steven Denholtz said Tuesday that 2016 was a strong follow-up to the prior year, which saw the firm “pursue many exciting opportunities and investments that allowed us to showcase our expertise in many areas including acquisitions, ground-up construction and adaptive reuse.” He felt the company “picked up right where we left off to continue this trend into 2016,” closing more than 200 transactions as it reached the million-square-foot leasing milestone.
“The hard work and dedication of our experienced finance, leasing, and property management teams allowed us to leverage our full suite of capabilities resulting in another impressive year,” Denholtz said in a prepared statement. “Our continued success is proof of our property management experience and our ability to add value to underperforming assets and create debt opportunities in high-quality, targeted locations which reduce risk and increases profit.”
He added that 2017 “looks to be another strong year as we build on the successes of 2016 and we grow our business in our home state of New Jersey while also continuing to find opportunities in the exciting Florida submarkets of Orlando and Tampa.”
The firm highlighted several other deals from 2016:
- Prestige Millwork leased 24,006 square feet at the Bridgewater Business Park at 27E Kearney St. in Bridgewater.
- Retro Fitness renewed its lease for 13,868 square feet at 225 Terminal Ave. and KinderCare renewed for 13,464 square feet at 89 Terminal Ave. in the Clark Commercial Center in Clark.
- V-Squared Associates Inc. leased 16,468 square feet at 2 Executive Drive in Somerset.
- Polonica Inc. leased 19,358 square feet at 147 Ethel Road West in Piscataway.
- Kutztown Publishing Co. leased 16,935 square feet at 7036 Snowdrift Road in Upper Macungie, Pennsylvania.
“Our multitenant diversification strategy ensures that our properties consistently maintain high occupancy rates,” said Kristine B. Hurlbut, senior vice president of leasing at Denholtz Associates. “Our dedicated property management and leasing team ensure that tenants’ needs are consistently met helping us to maintain low vacancy rates across our portfolio.”