Summers' time

Ben Summers

Albert Ashforth's Office Market Report for the 2nd Quarter says the vacancy rate for class A buildings in Fairfield County decreased to 13.2% from 14% in Q1. At the end of June there were 4.42 million s/f of space available, down from 4.698 million s/f. A year ago, vacancy was at 13.7% and 4.648 million s/f.

712,797 s/f were leased in Fairfield County in Q2 vs. 412,413 s/f in Q1 and 788,878 s/f during the same period a year ago. The average asking price has decreased to $38.85 per s/f from $39.82 in Q1 and $36.77 12 months earlier.

Major leases signed in the county in Q2 included General Reinsurance who has leased almost 300,000 s/f at 120 Long Ridge Rd. in Stamford. Figures in the report do not include the anticipated vacancy of almost 500,00 s/f at 695 Main St. East in Stamford. Other significant leases included NASDAQ in Shelton, Drum Capital, Unilever, CITI Bank and Harmon Int'l.

Jim Fagan, head of Cushman & Wakefield's Fairfield and Westchester County region says, "We are in a whipsaw of an economic environment where tenants for the most part are taking a wait and see approach toward committing to new space. It's definitely a tenant's market where most landlords are more aggressive with concessions."

It is all too easy to speed through life with our eyes focused only on the road ahead. The challenge is scanning the horizon from time to time to determine where we are headed. Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek

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