"Fairfield County is experiencing the same trend that has been playing out in Manhattan. As the vacancy rate in an extremely tight market continue to tighten, the rental rates expand exponentially," says Kenneth M. Krasnow, regional managing director of Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut, Inc.

He notes that in Stamford's central business district, the average asking rent for class A office space has increased by $3.05 per sf to $33.83 per sf in one year. The full service direct average asking rental rate in Fairfield County reached $24.58 per sf, $1.41 above last year. Markets posting the highest direct asking rental rates include: Greenwich at $42.83 per sf and the central submarket (Westport, Southport and Fairfield) at $28.94 per sf.

Leasing activity for the first six months of 2000 totaled almost 2.4 million sf, more than twice the level posted at the same time last year.