Choyce Peterson Publishes 25th Lower Fairfield County Office Space Availability Poster
Mid-Year 2022 Availability Rate Increases
Equal Amounts of Sublease and Direct Space Added to Suburban Office Market
NORWALK, Conn., July 22, 2022 - Choyce Peterson, Inc. (www.choycepeterson.com), a full service commercial real estate brokerage firm with a specialization in tenant representation, announced the release of its 25th semi-annual Lower Fairfield County Office Space Availability Poster. The full-size poster depicts silhouettes of 96 buildings with a total inventory of 18.2 million square feet (sf) and tracks changes in office space availability from Year-End 2021 to Mid-Year 2022 in larger, primarily multi-tenanted Class A office buildings in Stamford, Norwalk, Greenwich, and Westport. The unique study illustrates the absorption and give back of direct and sublease space, as well as overall availability statistics.
This report shows a 3.1 percentage point increase in total availability during the first half of 2022, from 28.9% at Year-End 2021 to 32.0% at Mid-Year 2022. Of the increased availability, there was almost an equal amount of sublease space (280,952 sf) and direct space (274,519 sf) added. Total available space of 5,832,853 sf is comprised of 4,013,447 sf (68.8%) on a direct basis, while 1,819,406 sf (31.2%) is sublease space.
The following refers to the poster’s “availability rate” at Year-End 2021 vs. Mid-Year 2022 in each market surveyed:
- Stamford increased from 30.4% to 36.1%. Of the 31 buildings surveyed, 17 experienced an increase in available square footage, 9 decreased and 5 were unchanged. Three buildings combined to add 514,886 sf of available space: 400 Atlantic Street (328,031 sf available due to Charter Communications relocating to their new headquarters adjacent to the Stamford train station), 300 First Stamford Place, and 333 Ludlow Street. Three buildings combined leased 88,472 sf: 200 Elm Street/695 E. Main Street, 201 Tresser Boulevard, and 677 Washington Boulevard. Interestingly, of the 3,454,117 sf of available space in Stamford, five buildings account for 46%, or 1,594,412 sf of the total.
- Norwalk increased from 38.3% to 39.3%. Of the 20 buildings surveyed, 6 experienced an increase in available square footage, 8 decreased and 6 were unchanged. Three buildings combined to add 89,886 sf of available space: 535 Connecticut Avenue, 20 Glover Avenue, and 761 Main Avenue. Another three buildings combined leased 41,959 sf: 230 East Avenue, 401 Merritt 7, and 50 Washington Square Street. The 39.3% availability is the highest level since we started tracking these buildings twelve years ago.
- Greenwich, the strongest of the four markets, decreased from 15.5% to 14.5%. Of the 25 buildings surveyed, 4 experienced an increase in available square footage, 10 decreased and 11 were unchanged. Only one building added more than 4,000 sf: 1700 E. Putnam Avenue (18,851 sf). Three buildings combined leased 38,339 sf: 2 Greenwich Office Park, 411 W. Putnam Avenue and 777 W. Putnam Avenue. A rare occurrence in the market - there is now more sublease space available in Greenwich than direct space.
- Westport increased from 16.0% to 16.4%. Of the 20 buildings surveyed, 3 experienced an increase in available square footage, 2 decreased and 15 were unchanged. Three buildings had a modest increase in available space: 500 Post Road West, 315 Post Road West, and 295 Riverside Avenue. Two buildings had a slight decrease: 355 Riverside Avenue and 8 Wright Street. Overall, the Westport market was largely unchanged over the last six months.
“Three of the four submarkets had an increase in availability, with Greenwich being the only market to decrease,” stated John P. Hannigan, co-founder and a principal at Choyce Peterson. “Large blocks of available space dominate the market. Of the 96 buildings surveyed in the four submarkets, amazingly 10 buildings in Stamford and Norwalk (5 each) comprise 42% of the overall availability. Interestingly, in the two smaller submarkets of Greenwich and Westport, there is more sublease space available than direct space.”
Hannigan continued, “Of the 10 most recent transactions I’ve been working on, six companies are downsizing their office space, two are increasing, one is leasing the same square footage, and one is transitioning to a work-from-home model. These changes aren’t necessarily achieved by staying in the same office suite; some companies choose to move within their current building or to a different building. However, these statistics reflect the ongoing trend where companies are continuing to lease space for collaborate work and meetings, but allow for flexible work-from-home schedules which most often leads to a smaller office space footprint.”
Charlene S. O’Connell, vice president at Choyce Peterson noted, “Given the mass amount of office space available in the market, tenants can choose between a wide price range, quality, and geographic area. Favorable deal terms abound with free rent, landlord-funded build outs, and discounted rent all negotiable in today’s market. It is an opportunistic time for landlords to capture new tenants with creative leasing packages that address these key factors.”
You can view the Lower Fairfield County Office Space Availability Poster in its entirety by visiting our website at www.choycepeterson.com/officeposter.
To order a copy of Choyce Peterson’s comparative Silhouette Poster, please call 203-356-9600 or email info@choycepeterson.com.
About Choyce Peterson
Choyce Peterson, Inc., a full service commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm with offices in Norwalk, CT and Rye Brook, NY, was founded in 1997 and has negotiated millions of square feet of transactions in 42 states and Canada. The Choyce Peterson process delivers comprehensive and creative real estate solutions to ensure clients derive maximum value from their real estate decisions.
Choyce Peterson, Inc.
Choyce Peterson, Inc.
Choyce Peterson, Inc.
Website by
