Fairfield County Q1 office leasing down 34%

Leasing activity in Fairfield County”™s commercial office market during the first quarter of this year totaled 371,100 square feet, according to data released by CBRE. This marks a 34% decline from the fourth quarter of 2020 while being 32% below the five-year quarterly average.

The availability rate rose for the fifth consecutive quarter to 26.6% up 10 basis points (bps) from the prior quarter and is up 290 bps from a year ago. The county”™s average asking lease rate was $35.10 per square foot, virtually unchanged from the previous quarter and up 2% from the first quarter of 2020. The quarterly net absorption of -16,048 square feet was an improvement from the -359,774 square foot level recorded in the previous quarter.

Four transactions accounted for 40% of all of the first quarter”™s leasing activity: Digital Currency Group”™s 45,800-square-foot lease at 290 Harbor Drive in Stamford, Elliot Capital Management”™s 40,000-square-foot sublease at 600 Steamboat Road in Greenwich, Acme United Corp.”™s 34,182-squre-foot sublease at 1 Waterview Drive in Shelton and iCapital Networks”™ 27,459-square-foot sublease at 2 Greenwich Plaza in Greenwich.

Transactions under 10,000 square feet accounted for 35% of the first quarter”™s leased square footage. The first quarter”™s total leased square footage totaled 128,100 square feet.

Among the major subsectors, the Greenwich Central Business District recorded 120,452 square feet of leasing activity, a 312% increase quarter-over-quarter and its highest quarterly leasing total since the fourth quarter of 2017. Greenwich CBD”™s leasing total accounted for up 32% of all Fairfield County leasing activity during the first quarter.

In comparison, the Stamford CBD recorded 98,006 square feet of leasing activity in the first quarter, a 26% drop from the previous quarter and 50% below the five-year quarterly average.

Two deals accounted for 34% of the submarket total: Wiggin & Dana LLP”™s 15,123-square- foot lease at 281 Tresser Blvd. and the completion of the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 19,020-square-foot lease at 263 Tresser Blvd.

Fairfield County”™s overall average asking in the first quarter was $35.10 per square foot, nearly identical to the previous quarter and up 2% from the prior year. The Greenwich CBD saw a 3% increase in average asking rent, which was the sole rent increase in the county”™s submarkets, with the others recording flat or declining rents.