"Fairfield County mirrors what we've been seeing in theManhattan market," says Kenneth Krasnow, regional managing directorof Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut Inc. "As the vacancy ratein an extremely tight market continues to tighten, rental ratesexpand exponentially, and tenants begin looking outside centrallocations."

Key market statistics from the Cushman & Wakefield reportinclude: Stamford's central business district office vacancydeclined from 5.1% to just 3.9% in the third quarter. In fact,there is only 129,957 sf of Class A space available at the momentin downtown Stamford, the brokerage firm relates. The overallvacancy rate for Fairfield County dropped from 10.4% a year ago to6.5% at the end of the third quarter 2000. The overall asking rentshot up to $27.67 per sf countywide. Greenwich's office askingrents now average $48.28 per sf, while Stamford has seen a 36.6%increase in asking rents from a year ago to the current price of$39.69 per sf.

Krasnow says that tight market conditions and high rents aredriving business to areas such as Shelton, Stratford and Trumbullon the eastern side of the county. The vacancy rate in the markethas seen a drop of 10% in its vacancy rate from a year ago to 9.2%at the end of the third quarter.