By Joshua Burd
Development might be booming in New Jersey’s red hot industrial market, but it’s a small group of institutional players that have seized the opportunity in the biggest way.
New research by JLL found that, in the current cycle, the 10 largest developers in the market control 67.4 percent of all new construction in northern and central New Jersey. Chief among them are Prologis, Bridge Development Partners and Clarion Partners, which rank as the top three and control a combined 33.2 percent of new warehouse and distribution space construction.
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After the first two-thirds of activity, an additional 13.6 percent of new development was controlled by the next 10 largest firms, the real estate services firm said.
Prologis has boosted its presence in this realm through a series of large-scale acquisitions in 2014 and 2015, JLL said. The San Francisco-based warehouse giant now controls all of the industrial space developed by KTR Capital Partners and the Morris Cos. in recent years, accounting for 27 percent of new development since 2009.
JLL, meantime, noted that Bridge Development has become the newest institutional investor to enter the market and “has quickly amassed a considerable development pipeline.” The firm is about halfway through that buildable portfolio and accounts for about 9 percent of new construction, with projects including a newly opened site in Union and a sprawling complex under development in Perth Amboy.
Clarion Partners accounts for 8 percent of the activity, with ongoing projects including a nearly 1 million-square-foot facility in Cranbury and 187,600 square feet in Dayton. The latter is a joint venture with F. Greek Development.
JLL’s breakdown also includes the following developers:
- The Rockefeller Group/Alfieri LLC (5 percent)
- IDI Gazeley (5 percent)
- Duke Realty Corp. (5 percent)
- Matrix Development Group (4 percent)
- Seagis Property Group (4 percent)