The NY-NJ metro area is the fourth largest life science market in the country. It runs right behind San Diego with 29 million square feet of operating properties. The New Jersey side contains the bulk of space, with a 70/30 split NJ to NY. Having an overall occupancy rate of 78.2%, this region was plagued with the same over-supply issues seen in the core hubs. However, compared to Boston/San Diego/San Francisco, there was not as much construction, which is why the occupancy rate is currently higher than any of those markets.
In the map below we can see that the performance varies across the region. Submarkets that are heavily user-owned, like New Brunswick and Long Island, were not saturated with speculative buildings. This is why their occupancy remains high. West Hudson and North Metro NY have struggled the most, with large amounts of investor-owned space facing sub 70% occupancy. On the other hand, Princeton/Cranbury and Bridgewater Township held up relatively strong with 84.5% and 82% respectively.
