NJ TRANSIT HUB PERSPECTIVE | SUMMER 2018
Metropark
The Metropark submarket is considered one of the
most strategic office locations in the state, owing
to both its superior highway access and commuter
rail service via Amtrak and New Jersey Transit at the
Metropark Train Station. The Station provides direct
links to Manhattan and other major transit hubs
in the state. Woodbridge Center Mall and Menlo
Park Mall, as well as several hotels and restaurants,
are located within minutes of this market. To
connect commuters with Metropark Train Station,
Mack-Cali kicked-off a pilot program involving the
subsidization of Uber rides to and from its four
buildings in this submarket.
With 4.0 million square feet of rentable office space in proximity to
the Metropark Train Station, this submarket represents the second
largest suburban transit hub in Northern and Central New Jersey
after the 4.8 million-square-foot Princeton market. After remaining
relatively unchanged near the 19.0 percent level during 2015
and 2016, the Metropark overall vacancy rate approached the
22.0 percent level in 2017. This submarket recorded the highest
vacancy rate among the suburban transit hub markets. The uptick
in the Metropark overall vacancy rate was attributed to activity in
the Class A market, where the vacancy rate eclipsed 20.0 percent
compared to less than 17.0 percent in 2016. Contributing to the
higher Class A vacancy rate was 145,430 square feet placed on
the market for sublease by Daiichi Sankyo at 399 Thornall Street.
Daiichi Sankyo had vacated this space after consolidating its
operations to 211 Mount Airy Road in Basking Ridge last year.
Among the largest deals recently completed in the Metropark