PARSIPPANY, NJ — New Jersey registered 10.6 million s/f of industrial leasing activity during the first quarter of 2018 – 9% higher than the five-year quarterly average, according to Colliers International NNJ LLC. The global commercial real estate services firm released its first-quarter 2018 Market Snapshots, which also reports that office leasing during the past three months achieved an incremental improvement to 2.2 million s/f.Industrial Pace AcceleratesA 975,000 s/f lease by Ikea at 586 Gulf Ave. in Staten Island’s Matrix Global Logistics Park grabbed headlines, followed by a 459,500 s/f lease by TJ Maxx at 50 Bryla St. in Carlstadt and a 369,000 s/f lease by One Stop Logistics at 83 Stults Rd. in South Brunswick. “Following strong leasing activity at the end of 2017, steady demand continued in the first quarter, driving the overall availability rate down to 5.3%, representing a year-over-year improvement of 120 basis points,” said David Simon, SIOR, executive managing director and New Jersey market leader. During the first quarter, six new development projects totaling 1.9 million s/f broke ground, bringing the construction pipeline to 34 properties comprising 14.1 million s/f. T