Stephen B. Siegel, chairman and chief executive officer of Insignia/ESG, comments that while 2001 may not be "as festive (as compared to leasing and sales activity in 2000) it will still be one heck of a party to go to in our opinion."

Siegel was one of the speakers at Insignia/ESG's 2nd Annual Westchester-Connecticut Real Estate Forecast Breakfast held at the Westchester Country Club. Other featured speakers included State Senator George C. Jepson, majority leader of the State Senate in Connecticut, Kevin S. Corbett, executive vice president, chief operating officer and executive deputy commissioner of the Empire State Development Corp. and Dean J. Shapiro, executive director of Insignia/ESG's Westchester-Connecticut office.

Siegel says that the New York City office market is still very strong, with year-end 2000 availability rates of 3.9% in midtown; 4.4% in the downtown district and 5.7% in midtown south. He notes that although there have been reports of a downturn in activity, "We have seen very little evidence of a slow down with the exception of the technology sector." Siegel reveals that approximately 1.6 million sf of space in sublets have come on the market in New York City that can be directly attributed to the fallout from the fiscal woes of the dot.com sector.

However, he said that most of that space has already been filled. "We believe the impact (from dot.com failures) will be relatively insignificant," he predicts.

Insignia's Shapiro says the same holds true in Westchester and Fairfield counties. He reports that although there has been an increased level of activity from "new technology" companies (Internet-related and software firms), Internet companies comprise less than 4% of the office markets in either Westchester or Fairfield County.

"We certainly hear about dot-coms going bust. While it makes good reading, it really won't have much of an effect on the market," Shapiro relates.

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John Jordan

John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.

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