Westchester enjoys solid year as rents remain competitive

Real Estate Weekly,  Jan 23, 2008  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

The Westchester County office market remained active throughout 2007. Leasing totaled 2.4 million square feet, with transactions below 10,000 square feet accounting for nearly 90 percent of the county's overall activity, according to CB Richard Ellis' End-of-Year 2007 Office Market Report.

"While average asking rents remained below $30 per-square-foot throughout Westchester County, neighboring markets experienced significant increases," noted Robert Caruso, senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis' Westchester/Fairfield operations.

"This has created an important competitive edge for the county, as it is the only alternative for companies looking for less expensive, quality space in the northern suburbs of New York City."

While Westchester County taking rents are not growing as quickly as its Fairfield County and New York City neighbors, White Plains recorded an unprecedented $5 per-square-foot increase over the last ye ar.

Additionally, the county now has the lowest availability rate in Class B space at just 7.8 percent--a mark not seen since 2000, as some tenants could not afford the growing rents in Class A buildings.

Overall the market's availability rate edged up slightly to 15.5 percent from this time last year.

However, the negative absorption rate was minimal at 118,000 square feet, withstanding a large number of returns to the market.

White Plains has become increasingly more attractive to New York City-based companies, offering close proximity, convenient transportation and cheaper rents.

In view of this, throughout 2007 the White Plains CBD continued on its successful path toward a vibrant urban environment with a progressive and upscale mix of office, hotel, retail and residential developments and redevelopments.

Some of Westchester County's most substantial leases in 2007 include ITT Industries' 98,988 square feet at 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains Weekly Readers 80,000 square feet at 480 Bedford Road in Chappaqua, The Bank of New York's 78,000 square feet at 440 Mamaroneck Avenue, Fordham University's 62,500 square feet at 400 Westchester Avenue in Harrison and Disney Publishing Worldwide's 60,702 square feet at 44 South Broadway in White Plains.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Hagedorn Publication
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning