I can point to a stretch of two to three weeks in March 2020 when the market was eerily quiet, as we all adjusted to life at the height of a public health crisis. Otherwise, we’ve had a largely uninterrupted, decade-long run of deal activity, development updates and other happenings that have fueled the engine of New Jersey commercial real estate news.
That all figures to continue, but perhaps at a different pace as far as those deals are concerned. As you’ll read in this month’s cover story, commercial real estate buyers are taking pause amid the fast-moving, super-sized interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, causing a notable slowdown in the investment sales market. Optimistically, experts say it’s not a permanent pivot by institutions and other capital sources, but a time to let the market reset as new pricing takes hold.
Our October issue also features a Q&A with David Brogan, executive director of the New Jersey Apartment Association, about the group’s new office in downtown Trenton and how its members are faring post-pandemic. As Brogan tells us, the move from Monroe Township was “the next logical step” in its ongoing growth in membership and stature among policymakers. And it comes in a time in which advocacy has never been more important, following a nearly two-year, statewide eviction moratorium during the COVID crisis that saw landlords lose rent revenue and face legislation that they feared would create restrictive, drawn-out repayment plans for tenants.
“We’re trying to get back to some sense of normalcy as an industry,” Brogan tells us. “I think our members are doing that. We were thrust into the pandemic, just like everyone else, (but) we had to provide housing and we had to maintain that housing, so we had a very difficult balancing act. And I think our members and our industry really stepped up to the plate, really rose to the occasion as it pertains to balancing those two things.”
Elsewhere in this edition, we detail plans to redevelop a long-dormant and formerly contaminated site in Sayreville, once home to gunpowder and chemical plants, in a project that will add more than a million square feet of modern industrial space to the market in Central Jersey. A joint venture between Trammell Crow Co. and CBRE Investment Management, the development also promises to bring new jobs and ratables to the Raritan Bay region, as demand for warehouse and logistics space remains strong even as players like Amazon step back.
You can find those stories and more in the October issue of Real Estate NJ. We’re also thrilled to be hosting our second event of the year, on Nov. 2, when we tackle the state of the multifamily market with speakers including Jonathan Kushner, Richard Litton, Josh Solomon, Jose Cruz and Jeff Otteau. The rising interest rate environment will undoubtedly be a key topic, among many others, so we hope to see you there at the Highlawn in West Orange.
Until next time, thanks for reading and enjoy the issue!
Joshua Burd
Editor
