CASE STUDIES

Colgate-Palmolive needed to evaluate its 537,515-square-foot occupancy at 300 Park Avenue. The challenge was to identify the appropriate set of options and create a winning long-term occupancy strategy.

Holland & Knight had occupied its Downtown location for almost three decades, having acquired a successful maritime/aviation firm in the nineties. Its existing location was highly inefficient with attorney per square foot ratios exceeding current trends.

The firm has represented PNC exclusively in the tri-state area for approximately 10 years in a variety of transactions.

Dispersed among three locations in New York City with 376,000 square feet and wanting to consolidate and expand, Emblem Health (formerly HIP) retained the firm to determine available options if new lease terms would offset moving costs, eight years of exsting lease terms and the risk of subleasing in a down market.

Peter P. Kozel, Ph.D.
Chief Economist

Overall the Tri-State office property market improved during the second quarter of 2010. Availability rates stabilized, with some submarkets reporting actual declines and others only small increases. The pace of leasing activity in New York City was brisk, nearly equaling its long-term average level. In New Jersey, Long Island, and Fairfield and Westchester Counties, tenants demonstrated more interest in looking for and deciding on their space needs. Also, the average asking rent increased in Manhattan’s Midtown South market. With its inventory of space close to 100 million square feet, this increase is a notable event; especially when compared to the continued weakness in other sections of the U.S. As the second quarter ended and the third quarter began, the national economy started to show clear signs of slowing growth. During this phase of recovery, some of the key industries of the Tri-State region will have to deal with ambiguous and perhaps dramatic changes in their respective business environments. We will remain alert to these developments and carefully analyze the impact on our regional property markets.