"These results clearly demonstrate Westchester's new found resilience against the fluctuations of the business cycle," suggests Dean J. Shapiro, executive director of Insignia/ESG's Westchester-Connecticut office. "In the past, the corporate retrenchments characteristic of a slower economy would have caused a major downslide in Westchester's commercial market. That didn't happen this time around because of the diversity of the tenant base and flexibility of most buildings."

Though leasing slowed in the first half of this year as compared to the same period in 2000, the volume remained in line with historical norms, Insignia/ESG officials say. Despite the troubled economy, the county's office availability rose just over three tenths of a percentage point to 13.1% from the same period last year. To show just how stable the county's office market has been of late, the mid-year 2001 rate was almost flat as compared to the 13.2% rate posted three months ago.

Shapiro says that the 1.5 million sf in leasing activity by mid-year 2001, although 19% less than the 1.8 million feet secured in the first six months of 2000, was still among the highest in terms of leasing volume in Westchester's history. A total of 64% of the lease deals thus far in 2001 were secured in the second quarter, including Pepsi Bottling Group's 380,000-sf transaction in Somers. However, the company later decided to put 16,000 sf back on the market at the One Pepsi Way building.