The largest new lease was signed with Wrenchead Inc., which reached an agreement with EastRidge for 6,039 sf at 108 Corporate Park Dr. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., joined the EastRidge portfolio leasing 4,184 sf at 701 Westchester Ave. Martin Homer and Erik Storz of the Staubach Co. represented the tenant.

Other deals completed by EastRidge include PBI Media LLC, which remained in the portfolio with the signing of a new lease at 2700 Westchester Ave. for 3,509 sf. Budd Weisenberg of Insignia/ESG represented the tenant in the deal. Also, MayPro Industries Inc., renewed its tenancy at 2500 Westchester Ave. with a lease of 6,067 sf.

Also, Koo Larabee, Lau Kee & Lane LLP joined the EastRidge portfolio by signing a lease for 3,199 sf at 106 Corporate Park Dr. Arthur Scinta represented the tenant. Finally, Barback, Uliano & Co. PC, renewed its lease for 2,055 sf at 1025 Westchester Ave.

According to Ellen Lynch, senior vice president and managing director of EastRidge, leasing at the EastRidge properties was steady in the first quarter despite what she termed a sluggish market. She said that a good sign for the leasing market has been that the firm has enjoyed a recent increase in the number of people looking at available space in its portfolio, and the firm has crafted a larger number of proposals to prospective tenants.

However, while there are signs of improvement in the market, "It still takes a long time to get a deal done," Lynch observes. "People are still very cautious."