C&W Says Lease Deals Were Larger in 2000

STAMFORD, CT-Larger lease deals and a diverse tenant base were some of the trends that surfaced last year, according to a report released by Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc., which profiled the 50 largest lease transactions in the Westchester/Fairfield County office market in 2000. One C&W expert also says this region will continue to draw new tenants in 2001.

Kenneth M. Krasnow, regional managing director of Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc. says, “A significant trend from year 2000 is the growing length and size of leases as compared to 1999. This means that more companies are committing serious capital to the region.” He continues, “Overall in the year 2000, we’ve seen a maturation of the office market in Westchester and Fairfield Counties; companies are experiencing strong growth, resulting in larger and longer leases, and numerous expansion deals.”

C&W officials say that its top 50 list included leases from industries such as: food and beverage, charity, consultancy, entertainment, financial services, health care, hotels, insurance, law, media, office products, paper, plastics, reinsurance, technology, telecommunications and utilities. While in 1999 about 30% of leases signed in the region were by financial services firms, in 2000 that industry produced only 10% of the top deals.