STAMFORD, CT—In Fairfield County, leasing during the first quarter outpaced that seen over the last quarter of 2014, rising 47% to 887,414 square feet. This was higher than the five-year historical average and is seen as a marker of increased tenant confidence, this according to a report from CBRE's Westchester and Fairfield County offices.

The largest deal in the county for the quarter was Synchrony Financial's 312,000 square feet at 777 Long Ridge Road in Stamford. The CBD and non-CBD contributed the largest volume of returns to the overall market. Partly as a result of these returns, there was 232,395 square feet of negative absorption in the county during the quarter, CBRE says.

Westchester County ended the first quarter of 2015 with an uptick in its availability rate and a slowdown in overall leasing activity. The availability rate rose over the quarter from 18.9 percent seen in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 21%. And leasing for the first quarter of 2015 fell from 296,107 square feet in Q4 2014 to 269,295 square feet in Q1 2015.

Low leasing velocity contributed to an overall negative net absorption of 586,053 square feet largely due to PepsiCo's return of 539,995 square feet at 1 Pepsi Way in Somers, NY.

For Westchester County, the largest lease transaction for Q1 2015 was a 30,000 square foot lease by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 600 Midland Avenue in Rye. The top six leases for the quarter varied in size from the FBI lease down to 10,098 square feet taken by Medical Management Solutions at 120 White Plains Road in Tarrytown.

Instant Insights /

CBRE: Leasing Quickens in Fairfield County

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