Market witnesses 803,718 square feet in office leasing activity

Renewals accounted for eight out of the 10 largest leases signed in Fairfield County in the second quarter of 2017, according to JLL.

The county witnessed 803,718 square feet in leasing activity this quarter, with renewals and extensions accounting for 510,880 square feet of that amount. Fairfield County saw more than 1 million square feet in completed transactions in the first quarter of the year. Most of the deal volume at midyear 2017 was focused in and around Stamford, although Blue Sky Studios Inc.’s extension of its lease of 150,000 square feet at 1 American Lane in Greenwich was the largest transaction signed this quarter.

“Many of Fairfield County’s largest firms with near-term lease expirations are choosing to renew and take advantage of their strength in the marketplace,” said Edward Tonnessen, Managing Director with JLL’s Connecticut/Westchester office. “Forced to contend with persistent high vacancy rates and a shortage of large tenants in the market, landlords are motivated to make concessions to retain tenants.”

Fairfield County recorded 66,378 square feet of negative net absorption in the second quarter of 2017, significantly better than the 729,842 square feet of negative net absorption witnessed in the previous quarter.

Stamford CBD/Railroad

The Stamford CBD/Railroad submarket recorded 163,551 square feet in deal volume in the second quarter of 2017, with three of the largest transactions being extensions, expansions or renewals. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management extended its lease of 51,000 square feet at 301 Tresser Boulevard, Indeed Inc. expanded to 27,370 square feet at 177 Broad Street and Allegis Group Services Inc. renewed its lease of 15,027 square feet at 1 Landmark Square.

The entirely vacant building at 677 Washington Boulevard, vacated by financial services giant UBS AG in 2015, continued to heavily impact the submarket’s overall and Class A vacancy rates in the second quarter of the year. If the building was excluded from the current inventory, the Stamford CBD/Railroad Class A vacancy rate would decrease to 19.3 percent from the submarket’s current rate of 26.9 percent.

Greenwich CBD/Railroad & Greenwich Non-CBD

The Greenwich CBD/Railroad submarket witnessed just 18,528 square feet in new leasing activity at midyear 2017. Sotheby Realty inked the largest transaction of the quarter with its renewal of 9,590 square feet at 1 Pickwick Plaza.

Greenwich was still the only Fairfield County submarket to experience positive absorption at midyear 2017, due mostly to Blue Sky Studios, Inc.’s extension of its lease at 1 American Lane. The area recorded 84,310 square feet of positive net absorption this quarter.

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JLL is a leader in the New York tri-state commercial real estate market, with more than 2,400 of the most recognized industry experts offering brokerage, capital markets, property/facilities management, consulting, and project and development services. In 2016, the New York tri-state team completed approximately 28.2 million square feet of lease transactions; arranged investment sales, notes, debt and equity transactions valued at more than $12.0 billion; managed projects valued at $7.9 billion; and oversaw a property management, facilities management and agency leasing portfolio exceeding 146.7 million square feet.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2016, JLL had revenue of $6.8 billion and fee revenue of $5.8 billion and, on behalf of clients, managed 4.4 billion square feet, or 409 million square meters, and completed sales acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $136 billion. At the end of the first quarter of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 78,000. As of March 31, 2017, LaSalle Investment Management had $58.0 billion of real estate under asset management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com