“Our people who track the market closely in cities like Newark and Princeton say there are tenants in the market who were out there before the current president was elected,” says Dolly, who heads Colliers’ research and analytics group in New Jersey.

The larger deals that are being made are mostly for LEED-rated, energy-efficient space, whether it is new or upgraded, he adds.

Tenants that seek upgraded space are taking less of it – and less per employee, according to the data.

“It used to be that tenants taking a new lease would always look out for growth potential. Now, when a deal is being made, expansion is not even in the discussion in many cases,” Dolly says, “even if companies are hiring back or even adding jobs.”

The Colliers executive says the best brokers are still completing plenty of transactions. Experienced brokers do well in a down market,” Dolly says. “They know how to manage expectations on both sides of a deal. If the overall numbers aren’t changing much, there are still some companies benefiting.”