The KRE Group announced that a successful 2015 campaign to provide tenants with key upgrades and new amenities across its entire 6 million RSF portfolio has brought the company’s commercial vacancy rate to just 1%.
After beginning 2015 with a vacancy rate of approximately 5%, the company was able to attract new tenants throughout the year and extend the leases of several existing tenants. The current 1% figure compares extremely favorably to the overall
Northern and Central New Jersey commercial vacancy rate figure of approximately 24% for office space and 7% for industrial space, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (NYSE: JLL), the Fortune 500 real estate services firm.
KRE has managed to remain an industry leader by focusing on upgrading facilities and improving tenant experiences at its dozens of office and industrial properties throughout New Jersey and parts of Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. Renovating lobbies, bathrooms and common corridors; upgrading lighting, providing new food service options, expanding parking capabilities and installing backup power generation at specific facilities are among the many improvements KRE made in 2015 and will continue to focus on in 2016.
“We strive every year to improve our service platform,” said Jonathan Kushner, President of The KRE Group. “That commitment to proactively addressing tenant needs and creating value for them and their business partners is a major contributor to our standout occupancy rate. Our tenants stay with us for an average of over 10 years, and we are consistently able to fill vacancies quickly through the help of tenant referrals and recommendations.”
Major lease transactions for KRE’s commercial and industrial properties in 2015 include:
•A wholesale automobile parts and services company extended its lease for a 150,000 square-foot space at 100 Wade Avenue in South Plainfield, NJ. The industrial property features immediate access to Route 287 and is just minutes to the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.
•A national office supplies and services company extended its lease for 100,000 square-feet of commercial space at 21 Commerce Drive in Cranbury, NJ. The property features direct access to the Exit 8A entrance of the New Jersey Turnpike.
•A manufacturer and distributor of baby furniture leased 93,000 square feet of space at 701 Cottontail Lane in Somerset, NJ. The industrial property is situated on a tree-lined street with easy access to Route 287.
•A plastics company extended its lease for 75,000 sf of industrial space at 53 Brunswick Avenue in Edison. The multi-tenant industrial building features direct access to Route 287.
