How will the Jersey commercial market be affected by downturn?

Experts
in commercial real estate are divided over how the downturn will affect
New Jersey’s Hudson waterfront. Some believe Manhattan tenants will relocate there to cut costs. Class A asking
rents along Jersey’s Hudson waterfront, which includes Jersey City,
Hoboken and Weehawken, average $30 per square foot, according to Grubb
& Ellis. In Manhattan, average asking rents are $95 per square foot
in Midtown and $60 per square foot Downtown. Other commercial experts
said that relocating is time consuming, and during the down market,
most businesses will want to focus on staying afloat rather than
moving.”The Jersey City waterfront office market and the Manhattan
market travel together,” said Jamie LeFrak, managing director of New Jersey developer LeFrak Organization. “If there’s a softening of rents in Manhattan,
there should be corresponding softening of rents in Jersey City.”