Southern NJ Office Rebounds
Three quarters down, one to go. Wolf Commercial Real Estate (WCRE) principal Jason Wolf tells us that as of Q3, the Southern New Jersey office market (Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties) hasn’t returned to pre-recession robustness, but office employment is up and businesses are showing signs of expansion. Market fundamentals are strengthening, and it bodes well for the rest of the year, and into ’15, Jason says. Positive absorption for Q3 was about 137k SF, he adds, an increase of more than 20% from Q2.
Expansions and new deals continued to pick up steam this quarter, representing 54% of all transactions, an uptick from the 52% in Q2, Jason says. Currently, there are about 530k SF of pending deals expected to close by the end of the year or early 2015. Though that’s a large figure, four major pending transactions account for about 300k SF. Snapped: WCRE team members providing security this summer fulfilling their WCRE community commitment obligations, along with Cherry Hill police, at the 2014 JCC Maccabi Games.
WCRE has overseen a number of deals in the market lately, such as representing the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey in its recent acquisition of 1721 Springdale Rd in Cherry Hill. The property comprises a 21k SF school building with a full gym, stage, and kitchen, situated on 18 acres. It's a highly visible asset on the east side of Cherry Hill, Jason tells us. WCRE also recently repped the Federal Savings Bank in its lease of 2,700 SF of office space at 1000 Lincoln Dr E in Marlton.
