Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the October 6, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Between the Lines
What does a fashion show in downtown Princeton have to do with
commercial real estate? For one thing the fashion show, by Chantal
Palmer, a 34-year-old fashion designer who has her offices on
Witherspoon Street, will take place at Princeton Writer’s Block on
Saturday, October 9 – and it coincides with our biannual commercial
real estate issue.
But Palmer and her fashions also put a face on a commercial real
estate market that often is forgotten in the excitement over the boom
on Route 1. She calls her downtown environs the “SoHo” of Princeton
and she thinks it’s a marketable concept. “Princeton wants New York to
be in their backyard,” says Palmer. “They don’t want to get on the
train.”
In addition to designing clothes, Palmer also wants to foster
entrepreneurial growth in Princeton. In her group of Witherspoon
Street-based entrepreneurs, many of them women, are Jessica Durrie,
owner of Small World Coffee, Paige Peterson and Michelle DeHaven of
the boutique Rouge, and Lana Breygina, owner of Onyx Nails (page 42).
Palmer has some interesting ideas about how the borough could provide
more support for entrepreneurs. “Lotsa luck,” you might say. But every
once in a while government, big or little, does step in to help.
Case in point: the federal government has just dramatically increased
the number of Foreign Trade Zones in the Princeton area. Some
landlords are hoping that the FTZ designation will attract new tenants
(see page 12).
Meanwhile our twice-yearly commercial real estate listings (page 13)
reveal the latest trend in upscale office parks – the rehab of
buildings that could have been discarded as white elephants. Windsor
Corporate Park started this trend with a re-do of the old GE Americom
property. Now the American Metro Center is acquiring some impressive
tenants.(page 27). And on a smaller scale, Princeton University’s old
chemistry building on its Forrestal Campus (not the Forrestal Center,
but the campus on which Princeton Plasma Physics Lab sits) has been
given a new look by Ford Farewell Mills & Gatsch, the first tenant.
So if your business is looking for its first space – or a different
space, these listings are a trove of information. Not only do we list
the price you would pay per square foot, but also the total amount you
would pay per month for that space. Hint: gross rent takes care of
most expenses except your electric bill, whereas for net rent (or
triple net) you pay the extras. If the building is both for sale or
rent, you will find it in the For Rent column with the sale price
included.
Last week’s traffic issue is over and done with – except for a gremlin
that jogged the arm of the chart maker. If you just skimmed our graphs
of past driving times, you got the general idea that this year’s times
were slightly worse, but had you looked closely, you would have been
puzzled by some graphic glitches. We apologize and would be happy to
fax you the correct version.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
