Central State Retail Vacancies Climb

OLD BRIDGE, NJ-Ongoing troubles in the retail industry caused the vacancy rate along central New Jersey’s four largest shopping corridors to rise for the third straight year to 9% in 2008, up from 4.7% a year earlier, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co. Inc. With all four roadways seeing increased availabilities, the 2008 performance marked the region’s highest vacancy factor over the last 10 years and is more than double the decade’s low of 3.4% set in 2005.

The retail real estate brokerage’s 20th annual study of the central New Jersey market found 2.54 million square feet of vacancies in the 28.34 million square feet of space reviewed along State Highways 1, 9, 18 and 35 in Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth counties, and a small section of Ocean County. Availabilities were seen in 121 of the 516 properties reviewed. By contrast, the firm’s 2007 study reported 1.33 million square feet of vacancies in 28.11 million square feet.

This latest report follows last week’s issuance of the firm’s annual survey of the northern New Jersey market, where the vacancy rate grew to 6.6% from 3.6% in 2007, with 1.84 million square feet available in the 27.96 million square feet reviewed along six corridors. On a consolidated basis, the two regions saw their vacancy rate escalate to 7.8% in 2008 from 4.2% a year earlier, with 4.38 million square feet available in the 56.3 million square feet studied.