The availability rate is tightening in Connecticut's Fairfield County, and office rents there and in Westchester, NY are seeing modest growth while in the Brooklyn section of New York City, developers have been invited to pick up a 99-year ground lease in Gowanus and, in Flatbush, a notable loan has been secured to fund a transitional housing project. It looks like the Northeast is gearing up for a healthy Q4.

By the Numbers

Sean CullenFAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT and WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY—Improved availability rates and the deceleration of office space returning to the markets here during the past three months are positive signs toward improvement, according to Colliers International Group's report on third quarter activity in the area.

A significant slowdown of newly available office space, in tandem with healthy leasing activity in Fairfield County during the third quarter, drove down the overall availability rate to 22.4%—a 170 basis points decline year-over-year. Asking office lease rates continued to grow modestly in the area, improving 3.4% year over year to $35.52 per-square-foot currently.

Meanwhile in Westchester County, “Office leasing activity was at its lowest level in two years, but even less new space came onto the market,” according to Sean Cullen, director of research for Colliers' Stamford, CT office. This helped push down the availability rate 60 basis points from last quarter, to 21.1%. Asking lease rates have appreciated slightly to $27.51 per square foot but remain essentially unchanged compared to year-end 2015

Building Blocks

NEW YORK CITY—A family-owned, four-building site in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn is being offered for a 99-year ground lease to developers, and to tenants on a long-term lease basis. A team led by James Dario of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates has been retained by ownership to handle the agency. The four-building, 20,000-square-foot development site is in the Gowanus neighborhood, and features over 125-feet of frontage along Second Avenue and over 180-feet along 14th Street in Gowanus, is being offered to developers on a 99-year ground lease. The site has an FAR of 2, allowing for development of up to 40,000 square feet. Owned for more than 100 years by the Ranieri family—who have operated building supply operations at the site—the property is convenient to the Gowanus Expressway and within walking distance to the Prospect Avenue N, R and D subway lines.

Dealtracker & Notables

NEW YORK CITY—A $22 million bridge loan has been secured for Tilden Hall Residences, a nine-story, 117-unit, transitional housing facility in Brooklyn.
 Mark Fisher and Alex Furnary of CBRE facilitated the loan on behalf of the borrower, an indirect subsidiary of First Capital Real Estate Trust Inc. The one-year loan had a rate in excess of 10.0% with fees in and out. Financing was provided by Bridge Funding. The property is located at 2520 Tilden Ave., in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and is owned indirectly by First Capital, aREIT.

SOMERSET, NJ—ROG Acquisitions has purchased 351 Campus Dr. here for nearly $6 million. NAI DiLeo-Bram & Co.'s Marc Shein and Christopher Galiano represented the seller—a firm that was unidentified at press time.

560 JeffersonSECAUCUS, NJ—NAI James Hanson has brokered the lease of a 22,800-square-foot industrial property at 560 Jefferson Ave. here. The real estate services firm's Andrew Kirshenbaum, the lead broker on the assignment and Arthur Hixson, and Barry Mayer represented the lessee, Designer 8, in the transaction.

PARAMUS, NJ—The Goldstein Group has placed a Sherwin Williams paint store Williams at Lacey Town Center, on Route 9, in a 4,111-square-foot lease. Neighboring tenants include CVS Pharmacy, Wawa, and Supercuts. Principal Neil Goldstein and president Chuck Lanyard handled the transaction.

Mitt LiebersohnNEW YORK CITY—Mitti Liebersohn, Avison Young president and managing director here, will receive the 2016 Community Service Award from Avenues For Justice at the non-profit organization annual Second Chance Awards Dinner and Auction, taking place October 19th. Avenues For Justice is a community-based entity that provides crime prevention programs and an alternative to incarceration for youthful offenders and at-risk youths throughout East Harlem and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Liebersohn is being honored for his investment and commitment to providing second chances for inner city youth and for successfully garnering support and visibility for Avenues For Justice from the New York City real estate community and beyond.

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Rayna Katz

Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.