“Demand is projected to remain steady,” says HFF's Jose R. Cruz, “and grow another 1.6% over the next five years.” Rent growth will be “slightly mitigated” due to the fact that more than 10,000 new units are in the pipeline along the waterfront.

In its Q1 report, HFF says due to the influx of new units, vacancy is projected to rise to 5.4% by 2017.

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JERSEY CITY, NJ−A 1905 warehouse building here that the owner tried to have demolished five years ago claiming it was under structural duress has been sold to Mill Creek Residential for $38 million.

Mill Creek will rehabilitate and reuse the historic Butler Brothers Warehouse building as a 377-unit residential building with retail, artist studio/gallery and parking.

Cole Schotz real estate attorneys advised the seller - the company known as 350 Warren LP - in the sale. Developer Bob Lehrer, the principal owner of the structure, had originally pursued his own plan to build a condominium tower at the core of the structure. In 2008, he told the city structural engineers had declared the building unsound and needed to be razed, but they were openly skeptical.

City officials denied Lehrer permission to take the building down, and subsequently declared it a historic property. The downtown area where the building is situated is known as the Powerhouse Arts District and has been a longtime focal point for arts-related development.

The sale of the 500,000-square-foot building at 350 Warren Street closed on April 9, according to Cole Schotz.

The Cole Schotz team was led by Leo V. Leyva, Joseph Barbiere and John S. Stewart, who were assisted by paralegal Thomas Vogel.

The Cole Schotz real estate group is among the state's largest real estate practices and has been instrumental in the development of the New Jersey Gold Coast, working with national and local developers, as well as institutional investors in all types of commercial real estate projects.