Cushman & Wakefield states the county's office vacancy rateat 14.8% for the end of March, just about flat from the 14.9% raterecorded for year-end 2005. Newmark Knight Frank on the other handcalculates the county's office availability rate at 15.3%, up onefull percentage point from the 14.3% rate posted for the fourthquarter of 2005.

"The health of the market is so much better than it has been inthe last 20 years," says Christopher O'Callaghan, a senior directorwith the Westchester office of Cushman & Wakefield ofConnecticut.

O'Callaghan, who notes that the C&W Westchester officebrokered more than 250,000 sf in office deals in the first quarter,says the continuing diversification of the business base inWestchester is paying dividends. He says that the county's officemarket is no longer dominated by large corporate tenants, such asIBM, and has been able to absorb some large space givebacks.