Real Estate ForumReal EstateNew York

The talk of the conference was Frank Kenny, CEO of the WillettCos. of Rye, who offered a rather dour assessment of theWestchester County office market going forward. He said that mostNew York City-based companies, especially financial services firmsand hedge funds, need to be close to train stations and are willingto pay the extra rental costs in Greenwich, CT, instead of locatingat cheaper space in suburban office parks along I-287 inWestchester County. The Willett Cos. executive, whose firm ownsfour office properties in Greenwich and some suburban space in Rye,and Millwood, went on to say, "I have innate concerns about theWestchester office market. We are really not seeing substantialrental growth." Kenny was a panelist at the "Town Hall Meeting: TheState of the Westchester County Market" roundtable discussion.

A number of participating commercial office brokers and buildingowners at RealShare differed with Kenny's assessment of themarkets. Jeffrey Newman, EVP of W&M Properties and fellowpanelist at the Town Hall session, said he is seeing rent growth incertain markets and in certain niches in the market. Newman, whosefirm owns office buildings in Downtown White Plains as well as insuburban campus like settings on Westchester and Mamaroneckavenues, noted that his firm recently signed 36,000 sf of tenantexpansion lease deals with investment companies that came toWestchester from Manhattan. Due to demand, the firm has added asecond shuttle from its Mamaroneck Avenue properties to theMamaroneck train station to accommodate its mainly financialservice tenants' reverse commute needs.