STAMFORD, CT—JLL says that in the first quarter of this year, Westchester County experienced the largest amount of leasing activity the market has seen in nearly two years. In another encouraging sign for a market that has posted limited activity for the past few quarters, tenants currently in the market for office space have combined requirements totaling approximately 700,000 square feet, the firm says in its quarterly activity report.

“The Westchester County office market remained static in the first quarter of the year,” Chris O'Callaghan, managing director and Westchester County market lead for JLL. “With no new product coming online, and continued repositioning of older office buildings for adaptive re-use or renovation, rents have stabilized. The flurry of activity the county saw in the final quarter of 2014, with signed leases by Acadia Realty and U.S. Alliance Credit Union and the purchase of 600 Midland Avenue in Rye for the FBI, is a positive sign for the market in 2015.”

Westchester County recorded 488,474 square feet in transactions in the first quarter of the year, marking a whopping 70.6 percent increase in deal velocity compared with the 286,104 square feet leased the previous quarter. Despite the increase in leasing activity, the county witnessed 51,400 square feet in negative absorption this quarter due to space put back on the market at 555 Taxter Road in Elmsford and 1 North Broadway in White Plains. The largest transactions completed in the first quarter of the year include Hudson Health Plan signing for 57,315 square feet at 303 South Broadway in Tarrytown, PURE Insurance Co. leasing 43,948 square feet at 44 South Broadway in White Plains and FedEx taking 36,500 square feet at 669 South Third Avenue in Mount Vernon.