Displaced Manhattan Firms Commit to Space

JERSEY CITY-”Based on the inquiries we’ve received, New Jersey has become a prime focus for companies affected by the World Trade Center tragedy,” Roger Steinhardt, director of commercial leasing for the Kushner Cos., Florham Park, NJ, tells GlobeSt.com. “These firms’ strategic corporate planning is certain to impact the face of the real estate industry for the short term, and perhaps the long term as well.”

Indeed, many of those inquiries to Kushner and other brokerage firms have already turned into a spate of deals. According to some estimates, up to three millions sf of direct and sublease space may have been claimed just this past weekend. And because this waterfront city has a relatively limited amount of space to offer to begin with, displaced firms have gone farther afield to Newark, Morris County and other destinations.

For the most part, the parties involved aren’t talking about their deals yet, because they’re still working out the details. But according to various reports, Lehman Brothers is already up and running with a new trading floor at the 100,000-sf Datek building in Jersey City; American Express has shifted its World Financial Center operations to Jersey City; and Amex has reportedly cut sublet deals for the 340,000-sf former Aventis building at Morris Corporate Center, Parsippany, and for a 250,000-sf former Lucent facility in Parsippany. The company is said to be talking seriously to AT&T about taking over nearly 200,000 sf in Short Hills. And Deutsche Bank has moved employees to backup facilities in Piscataway, NJ.