Jones Lang LaSalle


GlobeSt.com UPDATE: New Spec Building Gets $29M Construction Financing
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 6, 2006 08:14am

(To read more on the debt and equity markets, click here.)
PARSIPPANY, NJ-When construction began on the 175,000-sf 100 Kimball Dr. last summer, it was called the first new speculative office building in Morris County in more than four years. It's also certainly one of only a handful of significant office buildings being done on spec in the Garden State.

Now, the building's progress is being moved along with a new $29-million construction financing package arranged by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler. 100 Kimball Dr., located within the Center of Morris County office complex, is being developed by a joint venture of the Gale Co. of Florham Park and a fund advised by JP Morgan Investment Management. The total cost of the building has not been released.

The funding was arranged by HFF executive managing director Whit Wilcox of the firm's New York City office and senior managing director Jon Mikula of the Florham Park office. The lender is the Union Labor Life Insurance Co. Further details of the financing were not released.

The five-story 100 Kimball Dr., which will have parking for 670 cars, is slated for delivery in October of this year, according to Gale Co. president Mark Yeager. "Our decision to initiate this project on speculation reflects our optimism in the New Jersey office market and the overall economy here," Yeager told GlobeSt.com last year.

The new building also the third phase of the four-building, 100-acre Center of Morris County office campus at the intersection of Interstates 80 and 287 being done jointly by Gale and the JP Morgan-advised fund. The first two buildings, totaling 575,000 sf, were completed in 2001, with the 400,000-sf 300 Kimball Dr. done as a build-to-suit and fully occupied by State Farm Insurance. The 175,000-sf 200 Kimball Dr. was completed and fully leased by Novartis Consumer Healthcare and the law firm of Kelly Drye and Warren.

The campus' fourth and final building is the fully approved, 100,000-sf One Jefferson Rd., which will be a companion building to the under-construction 100 Kimball Dr. No timeline has been announced for One Jefferson Rd.

Jones Lang LaSalle


New Tenants Take 34,000 SF at Meadows Office Complex
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 5, 2006 10:27am

RUTHERFORD, NJ-Five new leases totaling more than 34,000 sf have been signed at the Meadows Office Complex here. In the largest signing, Genpro Inc., a transportation company, took 11,826 sf.

The ownership was represented by Rob Fisher, director of leasing, and associate director Susan Lulla of Lincoln Equities Group, the in-house reps. Genpro was represented by Jim Hersh of GVA Williams.

“We have been able to withstand the downturn in the submarket,” Fisher says. “None of these tenants had a presence in the Meadowlands office market, prior to their lease with us, and most are from industries that have not historically operated in class A office buildings.”

Rainbow Academy, a childcare provider represented by Paul Hindes of Newmark, took 11,080 sf. In the deals, Funai, an electronics company represented by Matthew Corpuel and Stephen D’Amato of CB Richard Ellis, leased 5,704 sf; and broadcaster WABC, represented by CBRE’s Charles Laginestra, took 3,232 sf. Finally, Robert Half International, represented by Carolyn Sica and Kurt Burdack of CBRE, took 2,513 sf.

Lincoln Equities and partners Investcorp and Crow Holdings sold the two-building, 600,000-sf Meadows Office Complex to Invesco Real Estate and Onyx Equities in early 2005, and Lincoln stayed on to manage and lease the complex. With the latest signings, availabilities within the 12-story buildings include a full floor of 25,000 sf and pre-built units of 3,859 and 1,652 sf.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Opteum Signs On at Center
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 5, 2006 10:28am

MT ARLINGTON, NJ-Opteum Financial Services Inc. has signed a lease for 4,400 sf of office space within Mt. Arlington Corporate Center here. With the signing, the Paramus-based mortgage lender joins three other financial services companies at the complex--American Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial and Aegis Lending Corp.

Owner Mt. Arlington Development LP was represented by Randy Eigen, managing director of CB Richard Ellis, who has the exclusive for the property. Opteum was represented by Studley. Terms of the lease, at the 132,000-sf 400 Valley Rd. within the multi-building complex, were not disclosed.

400 Valley Rd. is the fourth building to rise within Mt. Arlington Corporate Center, and the first of a second generation of three new buildings that will add about a half million sf to the complex. Ground will be broken later this year for the second of the new buildings, according to William J. Myrtle, managing partner of Mt. Arlington Development, and a facelift is under way on the existing structures.

Jones Lang LaSalle


Local 'pay to play' laws are protected
Friday, January 06, 2006

TRENTON - Towns and counties can continue to enact measures banning pay-to-play that are stronger than the state law to deter the practice of awarding no-bid government contracts to political donors, under a bill signed into law yesterday by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey.

"Today we take another step forward toward real ethical reform in New Jersey," said Codey, who also commended the state Senate for passing a bill yesterday that would create a more independent ethics commission. That bill is scheduled for a vote by the Assembly on Monday, the final day of the legislative session.

A sponsor of the pay-to-play law, Sen. Peter Inverso, R-Mercer and Middlesex, said it would preserve local laws in more than 60 communities from being superseded by a weaker state law that took effect Jan. 1.

The law signed yesterday also requires companies and people getting public contracts at any level of government in New Jersey to disclose political contributions made in the year preceding their bid.

© 2006 The Jersey Journal

Jones Lang LaSalle


CA 01 04 06
STEVE JOBS' BROKEDOWN TEARDOWN
Peter Slatin

With a stinging rebuke for a town that has gone out of its way for Apple founder Steve Jobs, a California judge has squashed Jobs' dreams of demolishing the house he bought 22 years ago, but never saw as a dream home.

The case turned on questions of historic preservation and a town's mandate to uphold its own statutes rather then bend them to the wishes of a single powerful local property owner.

California Superior Court Judge Marie Weiner ruled on Dec. 28 that a decision by the Town Council of wealthy Woodside, in San Mateo County, to support Jobs' application to demolish his house was "the utter antithesis of its existing General Plan." Weiner called that document, which sets forth the legal requirements governing development in Woodside, "one of conservation, preservation and certainly maintenance of existing structures." This last was likely a reference to the fact that most of the doors and all of the windows have been removed from the house – Jobs testified that he had no idea who had ordered that done - allowing the elements, and vandals, to have their way with it.

The judge also wrote that the actions of the local government "simply demonstrate the Town Council?s exaggerated efforts to find a means to the end that Jobs seeks."

Jobs lived as a bachelor in the historic Daniel C. Jackling House for a decade after buying it in 1983, when he was just 29 years old. But the billionaire computer maven has for years sought to tear down the 17,000-square-foot mansion, built in 1926 by a copper mining baron, and to replace it with a roughly 6,000-square-foot modern house.

The house was designed by architect George Washington Smith, who is credited with creating the Spanish colonial revival look of wealthy towns such as Santa Barbara and Montecito. At least one Smith house is on the National Register of Historic Places. Other Smith homes in California have listed for as much as $21 million in recent years; Jobs paid $2 million for the Jackling House.

After Jobs first sought demolition permission, a mandated state review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) found that the house qualified to be on the state's registry of historic sites. CEQA, which was enacted more than 30 years ago, says Santa Monica attorney Doug Carstens, who worked with preservation groups on the case, is a "very specific statutory scheme to protect the environment and economy." Basically, he says, it means that, in the absence of proof of "feasible alternatives, public agencies are not allowed to approve projects with significant adverse affects on the environment or historic resources."

Therein is the off-kilter crux of the Jobs case. For it was the Woodside Town Council itself that found, in 2004, that Jobs' house indeed deserved protection as a historic state resource – and then, on the same day, ruled that there were "overriding considerations" for granting Jobs' wishes.

That didn't hold for the plaintiffs, an ad hoc coalition of historic preservationists from within and outside the community. "The town itself concluded that the house was a significant resource and that to demolish it would have a significant adverse impact - at the same time as it approved demolition," says Carstens.

And in doing so, Judge Weiner ruled, the town essentially was trying to ignore its own laws. She wouldn't have it. "The finding of overriding consideration was not supported by substantial evidence," wrote Weiner, "and the granting of the demolition permit by Woodside to Jobs was an abuse of discretion."

What's next? Oddly enough, Jobs could again ask Woodside to re-evaluate his request by supplying new evidence that would somehow mitigate the adverse effects of demolition on the stated aims of the town's General Plan. He has previously offered to donate the house to anyone who would pay to dismantle, move and rebuild it, and although preservationists say there has been serious interest, nothing has come of it. Estimates of the cost of such a move range up to $10 million, though the ultimate price tag is almost impossible to predict. Or he could continue to let the property, on some dozen acres at the end of a private road, continue to deteriorate.

Attorney Doug Carstens notes that, while Judge Weiner's ruling doesn't redefine California law or set a precedent, it is a reaffirmation of that law. "The town can't act on a whim to break their own rules," says Carstens. "They have to follow what this democracy has mandated."

Jobs may be an innovator, but he isn't the first high-tech titan to run into a brick wall trying to tear down a historic property. According to a 2004 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, both NetScape's Jim Clark and Oracle's Larry Ellison tussled with Woodside in the past. Clark wanted to demolish a 1915 stable by the same architect, George Washington Smith, but eventually agreed to move it to another location on his property. Ellison, too, cooperated with Woodside. He won permission to dismantle and store a 1913 house designed by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan.

Jones Lang LaSalle

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Furniture Distributor Takes Another 140,000 SF
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 5, 2006 08:27am

(To read more on the industrial market, click here.)
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ-Coaster Co. of America has signed a lease for an additional 140,000 sf at Matrix Development Group’s warehouse/distribution building at 45 Stults Rd. here, GlobeSt.com has learned. The deal, following Coaster’s agreement to take 300,000 sf earlier this year, effectively fills up the new building.

“We expect significant growth in our Northeast operations,” Matthew Chen, vice president of administration for Coaster, tells GlobeSt.com. The Santa Fe Springs, CA-based company, an importer and distributor of ready-to-assemble furniture and accessories, is using the site for its regional operations. “We needed the expansion space to prepare for the additional business, and to meet our customers’ demands.” Terms of the lease were not disclosed.

The Cranbury-based Matrix bought the 29-acre site and its existing 200,000-sf warehouse building, located in the New Jersey Turnpike Exit 8A submarket, in late 2003 and quickly announced plans to raze the building and replace it with a new 440,000-sf facility. The existing facility had been utilized for W/D purposes by Permalite Plastics Corp. and Stauffer Chemical Co. Demolition was completed by late 2004, and in the first quarter of 2005 construction began on the new building on a speculative basis.

With construction well under way, Matrix announced in mid-summer that Coaster Co. had signed on for 300,000 sf. “The demand for this facility was extremely strong,” Alexander Taylor, Matrix’s COO, told GlobeSt.com in July.

Coaster took occupancy when the building was completed late last year, and the latest deal effectively takes the rest of the asset’s space off the market. The lease-up follows Matrix’s announcement in October that it will build a 400,000-sf industrial building, also on a spec basis, on an adjacent site at 65 Stults Rd. Matrix bought the 27-acre tract earlier this year, and pending approvals, expects to be under construction by the middle of this year, according to Ken Griffin, the company’s SVP of development. “We feel that the demand for this property will be strong, given its proximity to local ports and access to major highways.”

Jones Lang LaSalle

Revamped Building Gets 31,000 SF of Leasing Activity
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 4, 2006 10:21am

FLORHAM PARK, NJ-Eastman Management Corp. has signed several new and/or expansion leases at its 69,000-sf 23 Vreeland Rd., bringing the office building “to its highest occupancy level in recent years,” according to Eric J. Maurer, director of leasing for the Livingston-based firm. The total space involved in the recent activity is 31,000 sf.

Eastman bought the asset as part of a two-building portfolio from a family estate in early 2005 and quickly launched a renovation encompassing the assets common areas and landscaping. As reported by GlobeSt.com, the sale price of the two buildings, totaling 128,000 sf, was not disclosed, but sources at the time put the number in the $13-million to $15-million range.
The lease signings at 23 Vreeland include three new tenants, a renewal/expansion and a renewal/consolidation, according to Maurer. The new tenants, all signing long-term deals, include Growing Families Inc., a photography company, which took 8,500 sf. The tenant was represented by Frank Recine of CB Richard Ellis. Other new tenants include Sivox Inc., a customer service training company, which took 3,673 sf; and Raskin Benefit Advisors, which took 1,364 sf.

The law firm of McGivney & Kluger, a long-time tenant of the building, renewed and expanded to a total of 14,000 sf. And Best Option Mortgage Corp. relocated from two non-contiguous suites to a consolidated 3,548 sf. Maurer and building agents Ken Flynn and Fred Hyatt of Trammell Crow Co. represented the ownership in all of the transactions, and Best was represented by John Kuhn of Grubb & Ellis.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Two Tenants Take a Total of 78,000 SF at Harborside
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 4, 2006 08:54am

JERSEY CITY-Two new tenants have leased a total of 78,255 sf at Mack-Cali Realty Corp.’s Harborside Financial Center Plaza 1 building on this city’s Hudson River waterfront. The 400,000-sf asset, which recently underwent a $12-million renovation, is part of the Cranford-based REIT’s three-million-sf Harborside Financial Center.

In the larger of the two deals, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. has signed on for a total of 40,470 sf within the nine-story class A building, according to Mitchell E. Hersh, Mack-Cali’s president and CEO. The lease, which runs for a term of 10 years and seven months, was arranged for Sumitomo Mitsui by Derek Trulson, Aron Whitehead and John C. Giordano III of the Staubach Co., Murray Hill, NJ. Mack-Cali was represented in-house by Christopher DeLorenzo, the firm’s vice president of leasing, and Thomas Savoca, director of leasing.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., a subsidiary of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, is no stranger to Harborside Financial Center. Simultaneous to the company’s sign-up at Plaza 1, it renewed its existing occupancy of 30,683 sf at the adjacent Plaza 2 building. The 10-year renewal was negotiated by the same brokers.

In the second Plaza 1 signing, the investment firm of Fred Alger & Co. took 37,785 sf for a term of 15 years. The Manhattan-based tenant was represented by Alexander Chudnoff and Curtis Foster of Cushman & Wakefield. Mack-Cali was represented by Mark Ravesloot of CB Richard Ellis, and in-house by DeLorenzo and Savoca. Further terms of the various leases were not disclosed.

Harborside Financial Center’s office component is currently 91% leased. According to figures posted on the firm’s website, Plaza 1 itself currently has just over 220,000 sf available. The larger complex also includes retail and residential components and a Hyatt Regency Hotel. The recently completed renovation of Plaza 1, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, included a revamped entranceway, according to Hersh. The project also included improvements to the building’s lobby and other common areas.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Cmed Triples US HQ Space
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 4, 2006 09:59am

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ-Cmed Inc. has signed a new lease, expanding its US headquarters office to a total of 11,000 sf at Mountain Heights Center here. Located on 24 acres at 430 Mountain Ave., the 306,000-sf office complex is owned by the Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Co.

Cmed, a UK-based clinical trial data capture/management firm serving the pharmaceutical industry, was represented by Frank Recine of CB Richard Ellis. Transwestern was repped by CBRE brokers Geoff Schubert, Dan Casey and Garrett Rioux. Terms of the lease were not released.

“We were able to accommodate Cmed’s impressive growth,” Recine says. “We were able to work around the company’s remaining obligations and ensure a smooth transition into their expanded space.”

As reported by GlobeSt.com, Transwestern bought the four-story, two-building Mountain Heights Center as part of a five-building, two-state portfolio for $140 million in a transaction that closed in early 2004. The seller was the Archon Group in a deal that originated more than a year before it actually closed.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Hovnanian Proposes 151-Unit Townhome Community
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 3, 2006 10:28am

(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
SOMERVILLE, NJ-K. Hovnanian Enterprises has unveiled plans for a 151-unit townhome community for an 11.23-acre site here. Termed “conceptual plans,” the proposal has been filed with this community’s planning board.

If approved, the project would rise on the Kirby Avenue site once occupied by Baker & Taylor Inc. The distributor of books, videos and music products relocated its regional service center to nearby Bridgewater a few years ago.

According to reps of the Red Bank-based Hovnanian, their plans call for a three-story building configured either as standard townhouses or stacked townhomes. The plan also calls for nearly 400 parking space and Hovnanian also proposes to extend three adjacent streets to accommodate additional traffic flow.

Company officials also say they’re preparing to formally present plans for board approval, but have not indicated a target date. Final approval would also require an application for rezoning to allow for 13.44 units per acre. The site is presently zoned for 12 units per acre.

The project would also require Hovnanian to buy the site from its current owners, Kirby Avenue Realty, a local group. According to borough records, the undeveloped site currently generates just under $161,000 per year in taxes. Borough officials project that if developed according to Hovnanian’s conceptual plans, the tax take could rise to $1.2 million per year.

Jones Lang LaSalle


REITs outperform S&P 500 for 6 year in a row

The REIT sector posted a total return of 12.1% in 2005, above our expectations at the start of the year which called for returns of 5% to 10%. While REIT returns were volatile during the year, the sector outperformed the S&P 500 which posted a total return of 4.9% as rising interest rates, higher energy prices, and a slowing housing market weighed on the performance of the overall market.

2006 Outlook - Expect REITs to post 8% to 10% gains

With real estate fundamentals improving, we expect REITs to post a total return of 8% to 10% in 2006 which is a modest deceleration from 2005 and a sharp decline from the 31.5% gain registered in 2004. Our cautious stance stems from the fact that REITs appear expensive using several valuation metrics which suggests that multiple contraction is possible next year.
Stock picking, not sector allocation, key issue for 06

After overweighting the mall sector for 3 years, we believe that stock picking will be more important than sector allocation during 2006. This change in strategy stems from the fact that retail fundamentals are "more cloudy" today while the recovery is well underway in the apartment, office, and industrial sectors.

Top picks for 2006

Apartments - Our top picks include Equity Residential (EQR), the nation's largest apartment owner, and Archstone-Smith (ASN), an owner of upscale apartments with large concentrations in Washington D.C. and S. California.

Retail - Our top picks in retail include General Growth (GGP) - the second largest mall company - given its above average growth prospects as well as Federal Realty (FRT) and Regency Centers (REG) since these companies possess the highest quality shopping center portfolios and should experience less disruption if retailer bankruptcies rise in 2006.

Office - Our top picks in the office sector include Vornado (VNO), Boston Properties (BXP), and Kilroy Realty (KRC) since the first two companies have large concentrations in Washington D.C and NYC while KRC generates over 80% of its cash flow from office buildings in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Industrial - Our top pick in this sector is Prologis (PLD), a global provider of distribution space with a portfolio of more than 343 msf spanning North America, Europe, and Asia.

To reply to Steve Sakwa directly, click here or call (1) 212 449-0335

Jones Lang LaSalle

01/1/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
'05: N.J.'s year of economic trials
High energy prices, storms hurt consumers

BY DAVID P. WILLIS GANNETT NEW JERSEY
If there's one thing to remember about 2005, it's probably that your wallet got lighter.
A gallon of gasoline was more expensive for that drive to the Shore or New York City.
It cost more to heat your home so far this winter, and it was likely more expensive to throw a load of clothes in the washer.

"Every which way you go, you feel smacked in the face with another increase," Keansburg resident Gavrielle Gemma said.

Higher energy prices were among the top stories of 2005.

On Dec. 14, regulators allowed New Jersey Natural Gas Co., Public Service Electric & Gas and Elizabethtown Gas to raise their rates.

The state Board of Public Utilities and the gas companies point to devastating hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, that struck the Gulf Coast a few months ago.

Damage from the storms decreased natural-gas production, disrupting an already volatile wholesale gas market and pushing prices to all-time highs.

Meanwhile, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina also caused a spike in gasoline prices.

Prices in New Jersey skyrocketed, topping out at $3.17 for a gallon of regular Sept. 10.

On Friday, the average price was $2.09 a gallon, according to AAA, still higher than a year ago, when the average price in the two counties was $1.78.

"It was the typical bipolar year with more manic stages than depressive stages," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall.

Home heating-oil prices soared as well.

"I've been doing this for 21 years, and I've never seen anything like it," Dan DeSeno, president of Midway Ice & Fuel Co., a Neptune heating oil dealer, said in September.

All these increases hurt, said Gemma, a member of the Central New Jersey Coalition for Peace and Justice, which opposes the natural gas rate hike. "It shockingly lowers the standard of living for working-class families."

Weak job growth

The job market in New Jersey also was one of 2005's top stories.

Through November, New Jersey added a modest 36,000 jobs, compared with 46,300 jobs in 2004.

During the past five years, virtually all of the job growth in the state has been in the low-paying sector of the economy, said economist James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

And job growth has been slowing.

New Jersey ranks ninth in the United States in employment size, yet in employment growth, the state ranks 18th, Hughes said.

Job growth in top fields such as business services, telecommunications and finance has dwindled, Hughes said.

At 4.6 percent, the state's unemployment rate continued to remain below the national average.
"The employment rate might be low,"Hughes said. "But we probably have a lot of people that are underemployed. They are working, but not in the jobs they have" skills for."

Workers in low-paying jobs got a boost this year as the state's minimum wage rose to $6.15 an hour from $5.15, the first hike since 1997.

The state's strong housing market has continued to act as a locomotive for the economy, Hughes said.

Home prices continued to rise as recently as the third quarter. But there are signs that rising mortgage rates are cooling off what has been a sizzling housing market, real-estate agents and mortgage bankers said.

During 2005, retailers announced some large mergers.

Kmart completed its $12.3 billion acquisition of Sears, Roebuck and Co. in March, creating the nation's third-biggest retailer, now called Sears Holding Corp.

In August, Federated Department Stores, parent company of Macy's, acquired May Department Stores, the home of many well-known retail chains, including Lord & Taylor.

About a month later, Federated said it would sell its bridal stores, including the After Hours Formalwear men's shops and David's Bridal.

Other businesses are going through transitions.

This month, Six Flags, the world's second-largest operator of them parks, including Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, abandoned plans to sell the company after Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder took control of it.

Telecom changes

Changes in the telecommunications industry also became a big story.

Internet telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. moved its headquarters, including about 1,400 employees, from Edison to Route 520 in Holmdel.

The company renovated the 350,000-square-foot building that it is leasing and which was once home to Prudential Financial's property and casualty division.

In November, local telephone giant SBC Communications, based in San Antonio, Texas, completed its purchase of former parent Bedminster-based AT&T Corp., changing its name to AT&T Inc.

Verizon Communications also began deploying a new fiber-optic network in parts of the state. Eventually, the company hopes to provide cable television services in New Jersey and become a new competitor to cable companies such as Comcast and Cablevision.

Verizon, which has begun moving employees into the former AT&T campus, which it purchased, in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards, is putting its strongest effort behind state legislation that would allow it to apply for a statewide franchise.

The push, which is vigorously opposed by the state's cable industry, would allow it to bypass local franchise rules.

A 98-day strike by about 1,350 workers at Jersey Central Power & Light dominated the news earlier this year.

The contract between JCP&L and five locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was settled in March after the intervention of acting Gov. Richard J. Codey and then-New Jersey Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Thomas D. Carver.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Hiring expected in range of industries in'06
Sunday, January 01, 2006
BY ADAM GELLERAssociated Press

Ever since the labor market began improving 2 1/2 years ago, the housing boom has supplied an outsized share of new jobs. But if red-hot real estate is cooling, who will be hiring?
In fact, many employers will likely continue adding workers in 2006, but hiring will probably be spread more evenly across the economy than in the past few years, experts say.

Demand for construction workers, mortgage brokers and others could slow. Manufacturing jobs will probably decline. But a wide range of companies and industries will likely add jobs, including health care, accounting, engineering and other services.

"Job growth will generally be broad-based," said Marisa DiNatale of Moody's Economy.com, a research and forecasting firm. "We do expect total employment growth to slow down, but generally we still expect to see gains."

Employers could add 2 million or more new jobs in 2006, economists say, putting it roughly on par with the year just ending. The economy has gained 1.8 million jobs through November and a total of nearly 4.5 million since the labor market reversed its decline in mid-2003.

Employers, faced with spiraling health costs, have been conservative about hiring. But as corporate worries about the price of energy ease, service businesses may be more willing to add workers.

"Manufacturing is still a somewhat difficult area, but services can make that up," said Jeffrey Joerres, president and chief executive of staffing firm Manpower. "We would look at it (the job market) and say, 'You know what? 2006 has the likelihood of creating as many jobs as 2005 did.'"
Even as companies like the major airlines and General Motors have been cutting jobs, a few industries have been the source of much of the nation's net job growth.

Housing and related industries have produced nearly one in four new jobs since 2003, DiNatale said. The largest number were in construction, which has added about 660,000 jobs.
There are some signs the hiring is moderating. But the pace of home building and buying is still so strong, some employers say they'll need new workers well into the new year.

"We have contracts on over 8,000 homes. They have to be built. I can't stop hiring," said Jon Downes, vice president of human resources for builder Toll Bros.

Housing is hardly the only industry that has been adding workers.

Health care, which continued growing during the recession, has added nearly 600,000 workers since the labor market began improving, a mix of both lower-paying and better-paying jobs that should continue to multiply as aging Baby Boomers drive demand.

Temporary agencies have signed on 400,000 more workers, with caution by companies prolonging demand.

Restaurants have added close to 600,000 new workers since mid-2003. But the mix of new leisure and hospitality jobs could change in the coming year, with more hiring by hotels and resorts, experts say.

Demand is also strengthening for other types of workers.

Companies plan to hire 15 percent more new workers from the nation's colleges next year than in 2005, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Those in the highest demand are students ready to work in mechanical and electrical engineering, accounting, business administration and finance.

That demand is evident at accounting firms such as BDO Seidman, which plans to add 300 employees in the coming year after adding 400 in the past 12 months.

Still, for most workers, the job market is very different from what it was at the height of the economic boom. Most have seen their paychecks grow very slowly, even as inflation climbs and other costs, like health care and housing, have jumped.

That is likely to stay the case through much of the next year, in a continuing employer's market, observers say.

Jones Lang LaSalle

JCC buys land for new center in W. Windsor
Friday, December 30, 2005
By BRIAN X. McCRONE Staff Writer

EWING - The owners of the Jewish Community Center on Lower Ferry Road yesterday finalized the purchase of an 80-acre property along Clarksville Road in West Windsor, a spokesman for the JCC said.

The $3.07 million land purchase by the United Jewish Federation (UJF) is the first step toward construction of a $22-$23 million regional center that will dwarf the current facility in Ewing, spokesman Paul Schindel said this week.

Preliminary plans have called for an 84,000-square-foot facility - twice the size of the current center.

"We're still refining what specific facilities are going to be on site," Schindel said. "But we're probably looking at $22-$23 million . . . news of this closing has ratcheted up the interests of the community and the number of contributions."

Schindel and West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said any plans still need the approval of the township planning board before construction could begin on the heavily wooded property.

Ground breaking could begin in 15 to 18 months, Schindel said, with many of the architectural and engineering plans still to be completed and presented to the planning board.
"We have been talking to them about their plans," Hsueh said this week. "We have tried to work with them."

Sale of the existing JCC campus in Ewing has yet to be discussed by the UJF, Schindel said, adding that the 13-acre property will not be on the market in the immediate future.
Ewing Tax Assessor Jeff Burd said the assessed value of the property is $2.9 million, but the actual sales price of such properties often is much higher.

JCC officials have told some families involved in programs at the Ewing campus about the possibility that some activities, including a nursery school for about 50 children, will end by late next year.

"In the interest that none of them get shut out of alternatives, it is a possibility that we will have to curtail the nursery school (by next fall)," Schindel said. "There are nursery schools all around and there are Jewish nursery schools all around."

But most of the center's programs will remain running until the new facility is ready, he said.
The new home will be well equipped, according to initial plans discussed by Schindel last December.

The UJF's 80-acre community center in West Windsor will feature a state-of-the-art fitness center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, an indoor track and a banquet hall. It also will provide children's day care and summer camps for all area residents, Schindel said previously.
Talk of the JCC moving usually is followed by the question of what will happen to the renowned "Trenton bathhouse" at the Ewing site.

The bathhouse, which noted architect Louis Kahn said was his architectural turning point in the 20th century, is a looming concrete structure that was built in the 1950s. Enthusiasts say its value to contemporary architecture is priceless.

But the current property owners apparently do not deem it worth the more than $1 million it would take to restore.

"Between now and ribbon breaking we will sell the property in Ewing and the new owner will have the privilege of having the Kahn bathhouse," Schindel said.

NOTE: Contact Brian X. McCrone at bmccrone@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5716.

Jones Lang LaSalle

Edison Mall Sells for $20M-Plus
By Sean Ryan
Last updated: January 3, 2006 08:00am

Sean Ryan is associate editor of Real Estate New Jersey.
(For more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)
EDISON, NJ-Wharton Realty Group has acquired the ShopRite-anchored Edison Mall for a price in excess of $20 million. The seller was GE Capital Real Estate.

The 105,000-sf retail center, located at Route 1 and Old Post Road, is 100% occupied, including other tenants such as North Fork Bank and Dots. John Hoffman, Matthew Schnurr and Michael Harrington of the Grubb & Ellis Institutional Investment Team brokered the deal on behalf of GE Capital.

The transaction closed in a “highly compressed timeframe” of only 20 days from beginning to end, according to Schnurr, who says Wheaton saw the purchase as a value-added opportunity thanks to Edison Mall’s below-market leases. “The opportunity was highly contested by a host of institutional as well as private investors,” adds Hoffman.

Wheaton Realty Group is an Eatontown-based retail and office investor which used a 1031-exchange requirement to purchase the property. “Very rarely do you get a 1031 where everything works perfectly: the debt, the equity, the financing. This just blew everyone away,” Schnurr says.