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Leasing outpaces 2018 volume, sees strongest annual total since 2015
The Northern New Jersey office market registered its strongest fourth-quarter leasing total since 2015 with 2.1 million square feet (msf) of activity, pushing total 2019 leasing to 7.7 msf. This marks an 8.0% yearly increase. A pair of renewals led activity with BNY Melon’s subsidiary Pershing LLC re-signing for 408,449 square feet (sf) at Columbia Property Trust’s 95 Columbus in Jersey City (Waterfront submarket), and British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser signing a renewal and expansion at Latitude East in Parsippany (Morris submarket) for 187,000 sf. Availability has held flat at a rate of 22.9% since the second quarter, but strong annual leasing contributed to a 170-basis-point drop in availability over the year. Asking rents rose 4.9% annually to $29.53 per square foot (psf) but are up just 0.2% from the third quarter.