New Report Examines Current Employment, Business Dynamics Shaping New Jersey’s Suburban Office Market

December 18, 2012

A new Rutgers Regional Report, “Reinventing the New Jersey Economy: New Metropolitan and Regional Employment Dynamics,” authored by James W. Hughes, dean of Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Joseph J. Seneca, university professor and economist at the Bloustein School, examines the necessity of transforming and reimagining the state’s suburban office stock to adjust to the emerging employment and business dynamics.

The authors trace the long-term forces that have been changing the shape of regional economic growth. “New Jersey’s structural transformation in the 1980s and 1990s to a knowledge-based, information-age economy proceeded in lockstep with the emergence of powerful suburban growth corridors,” said Hughes. “This 1980s-based office geography evolved into the state’s core economic competency, but the attractiveness of suburban growth corridors may have run its course.”

Hughes and Seneca examine whether trends that have been in existence for the last half century have now been reversed by fundamental changes in locational preferences. “The larger question is whether New Jersey’s office inventory—the once-dominant office parks and other post-industrial “factory” complexes—can be retooled for emerging economic imperatives,” the authors note. “Fortunately, there are still suburban office environments that may be successfully reshaped, reconceptualized, and more importantly, re-tenanted relative to population concentrations and accessibility.”

The complete report examining the previous transformations as well as an analysis of current trends may be found at:https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/reports/rrr/RRR33dec12.pdf.

A new Rutgers Regional Report, “Reinventing the New Jersey Economy: New Metropolitan and Regional Employment Dynamics,” authored by James W. Hughes, dean of Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Joseph J. Seneca, university professor and economist at the Bloustein School, examines the necessity of transforming and reimagining the state’s suburban office stock to adjust to the emerging employment and business dynamics.

The authors trace the long-term forces that have been changing the shape of regional economic growth. “New Jersey’s structural transformation in the 1980s and 1990s to a knowledge-based, information-age economy proceeded in lockstep with the emergence of powerful suburban growth corridors,” said Hughes. “This 1980s-based office geography evolved into the state’s core economic competency, but the attractiveness of suburban growth corridors may have run its course.”

Hughes and Seneca examine whether trends that have been in existence for the last half century have now been reversed by fundamental changes in locational preferences. “The larger question is whether New Jersey’s office inventory—the once-dominant office parks and other post-industrial “factory” complexes—can be retooled for emerging economic imperatives,” the authors note. “Fortunately, there are still suburban office environments that may be successfully reshaped, reconceptualized, and more importantly, re-tenanted relative to population concentrations and accessibility.”

The complete report examining the previous transformations as well as an analysis of current trends may be found at:https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/reports/rrr/RRR33dec12.pdf.

A new Rutgers Regional Report, “Reinventing the New Jersey Economy: New Metropolitan and Regional Employment Dynamics,” authored by James W. Hughes, dean of Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Joseph J. Seneca, university professor and economist at the Bloustein School, examines the necessity of transforming and reimagining the state’s suburban office stock to adjust to the emerging employment and business dynamics.

The authors trace the long-term forces that have been changing the shape of regional economic growth. “New Jersey’s structural transformation in the 1980s and 1990s to a knowledge-based, information-age economy proceeded in lockstep with the emergence of powerful suburban growth corridors,” said Hughes. “This 1980s-based office geography evolved into the state’s core economic competency, but the attractiveness of suburban growth corridors may have run its course.”

Hughes and Seneca examine whether trends that have been in existence for the last half century have now been reversed by fundamental changes in locational preferences. “The larger question is whether New Jersey’s office inventory—the once-dominant office parks and other post-industrial “factory” complexes—can be retooled for emerging economic imperatives,” the authors note. “Fortunately, there are still suburban office environments that may be successfully reshaped, reconceptualized, and more importantly, re-tenanted relative to population concentrations and accessibility.”

The complete report examining the previous transformations as well as an analysis of current trends may be found at:https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/reports/rrr/RRR33dec12.pdf.

 

Recent Posts

NJSPL Report: Supporting Aging in Place in New Jersey

Report Release – Supporting Aging in Place in New Jersey: A SWOT Analysis of Assisted Living Programs by Ayse Akincigil, Uri Amir Koren, Jasmine Akman, Dima Bischoff-Hashem, Karen Zurlo Read Report New Jersey has an innovative Assisted Living Program (ALP) designed...

Edwards: Disability, Job Satisfaction, and Accommodations

Disability, Job Satisfaction, and Workplace Accommodations: Evidence from the Healthcare Industry Abstract Purpose: This paper examines the extent to which job satisfaction, requests for accommodations, and the likelihood of a request being granted vary by disability...

New Report – State of the Climate: New Jersey 2024

Overview The State of the Climate: New Jersey report annually summarizes updated scientific information on climate trends and projections that can be used by state and local decision-makers, researchers, hazard planning and climate resilience professionals, and...

NJSPL: How E-Bikes Could Bridge the Healthcare Gap

by Yingning Xie Pedaling Toward Access: How E-Bikes Could Bridge the Healthcare Gap Imagine needing medical care but being sidelined by the simple fact that you can’t get to your provider. In New Jersey, and across the U.S., accessing healthcare and wellness support...

“Work Trends RU” Podcast with Rachel Korberg

This week's guest on the Heldrich Center's Work Trends RU podcast is Rachel Korberg, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Families and Workers Fund. Rachel is also a member of the Heldrich Center’s National Advisory Board. In this episode, Rachel shares: The...