The South Jersey commercial real estate market, which includes South Jersey office space, is off to a strong start in 2015, continuing the momentum seen during the fourth quarter 2014, according to a new report from Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Southern New Jersey commercial real estate brokerage firm with expertise in South Jersey commercial real estate listings and services.

The firm’s latest quarterly analysis noted that some challenges remain, but that the Southern New Jersey office space market has been lifted by a busy quarter among major healthcare institutions, investors, and large tenants.

“The moves we’ve seen this quarter signal significant business expansion and job growth,” said Jason Wolf, founder and managing principal of Wolf Commercial Real Estate. “This has helped to boost commercial real estate confidence and lending conditions, leading to a more optimistic atmosphere that is expected to continue throughout 2015.”

The quarterly report details big moves announced and/or anticipated by major players in the market for office space in South Jersey.  Among them are Virtua’s planned 62,000-square-foot office relocation later in the fall and the sale of two of Brandywine Realty Trust’s trophy assets to out-of-market investors. The two buildings, Libertyview and 1000 Atrium Way, total 221,405 square feet, and sold for an average of approximately $134/sf.

The first quarter posted approximately 472,154 square feet of new leases and renewals executed in the South Jersey office space market, according to the report from Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Southern New Jersey commercial real estate broker that specializes in South Jersey commercial real estate listings and services. This represents a 7% increase in executed transactions over the 441,141 square feet of office space in Southern New Jersey that closed during the first quarter a year ago, the company said.

New tenant leases consisted of approximately 186,427 square feet and renewals and expansions made up approximately 285,727 square feet in the market for office space in South Jersey . New leasing activity represented approximately 39.5% of all deals for office space in Southern New Jersey for the first quarter. Overall, gross absorption for Q1 is in the range of approximately 255,161 square feet of Southern New Jersey office space. In addition to the consummated deals, there is a pipeline of approximately 450,000 square feet of significant pending lease deals for South Jersey office space that are expected to close in the near term, the Southern New Jersey commercial real estate brokerage firm’s report said.

Other highlights for the Southern New Jersey office space market from the report:

• GROW NJ continues to draw interested companies to the state, with 10 projects approved for $84.6 million in funding in January and February alone.
• Overall vacancy in the South Jersey commercial real estate market, which includes office space in South Jersey, continues to drop, and is now down to approximately 13.6 percent, an improvement over the previous quarter.
• Average rents for Class A & B product in the market for office space in Southern New Jersey continue to show strong support in the range of $10.00-$14.00/sf NNN or $21.00-$24.00/sf gross, with an overall market average showing strong support in the $10.00-$12.00/sf NNN or $20.00-$22.00/sf gross for the deals completed during the first quarter. Rents have remained stable.
• All of the major private owners and REITS showed moderate leasing and prospect activity for the quarter – with Burlington County vacancies tightening up, many larger vacancy opportunities are also shifting towards Camden County, which is not controlled by these ownership entities.

The report also examined the local retail market, noting that consumer confidence reached its highest monthly level since the start of the recession. The firm believes this level will further improve as the year moves on. Highlights from the retail section of the report include:

• Overall retail vacancy in the tri-county area is hovering around 10.5%, which is up slightly from the previous quarter, but is still encouraging compared to recent years.
• Class A retail product rental rates continue to show strong support in the range of $30.00-$40.00/sf NNN, as rents have remained stable.
• Much of the demand for space locally is from national chains, which are experiencing growth. Smaller and locally based retailers are still struggling comparatively.

The full quarterly report is available upon request from Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Southern New Jersey commercial real estate broker that specializes in South Jersey commercial real estate listings and services.

For more information about South Jersey office space or any South Jersey commercial properties, please contact Jason Wolf (856-857-6301; jason.wolf@wolfcre.com), Christina Del Duca (856-857-6304; christina.delduca@wolfcre.com), Todd Levin (856-857-6319; todd.levin@wolfcre.com), Scott Seligman (856-857-6305; scott.seligman@wolfcre.com) or Christopher Henderson (856-857-6337; chris.henderson@wolfcre.com) at Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a Southern New Jersey commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate is a premier Southern New Jersey commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of South Jersey commercial real estate listings and services, marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other South Jersey commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.  Please visit our websites for a full listing of South Jersey commercial properties for lease or sale through our Southern New Jersey commercial real estate brokerage firm.