Hope for NJ office market in 2010

After a dismal year for New Jersey’s office market, some analysts say that rents have fallen far enough to stimulate some leasing activity. Whether that will continue into a full-fledged recovery in 2010, however, is a more elusive question. The year will likely end with a “flicker of an uptick,” according to Craig Eisenhardt, a CB Richard Ellis leasing specialist. That flicker, he said, translates to a 21.5 percent office vacancy rate, down slightly from its 22 percent rate in the third quarter. Jones Lang LaSalle has predicted that the fourth quarter will boast 150,000 square feet more occupied office space than the third quarter. Though that’s a small number relative to the New Jersey market as a whole, “it is still the first time the vacancy rate has declined in seven quarters,” said Daniel Loughlin, managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle. “The good news is we’re not out of gas,” said Steven Pozycki, CEO of SJP Properties, which developed the Waterfront Corporate Center in Hoboken. “The bad news is that it’s only less bad than it was.” [NYT]