Leasing strong throughout W&M Properties portfolio

Real Estate Weekly, Feb 6, 2002

Fueled primarily by tenant expansions and renewals, leasing activity remained strong throughout the past year at W&M Properties' suburban portfolio, says Jeffrey H. Newman, executive vice president of W&M Properties, owner/operator of nearly 2.5 million SF of class-A space in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.

"In spite of the year's economic troubles, W&M's portfolio saw a remarkable amount of activity in 2001, with 24 leases being signed on nearly 500,000 SF of offices," says Newman.

"W&M's strong performance can be attributed to a few key tenets of W&M's strategy - maintaining the only all class-A multi-tenanted office portfolio in Fairfield and Westchester Counties, leasing all properties to a diverse user base of creditworthy tenants, staggering lease terms and working proactively with tenants to -meet their changing requirements," he adds.

Tenant expansions and renewals brought about a majority of W&M's 2001 deals, which ranged in size from 1,600 to 290,000 SF. In the case of the year's largest deal, in order to accommodate the tenant's need for additional space, W&M's in-house leasing team worked proactively with seven other building occupants to negotiate lease take-backs on underutilized space.

"W&M's new, renewing and expanding tenants come from such diverse industries as financial services, accounting, insurance, cosmetics, travel and human resources consulting. Our tenants are reassured by W&M's financial stability and reputation for providing superior amenities and services at all of the buildings within its Class A portfolio," Newman says.

Despite the volume of leasing activity, W&M still has space available for companies wishing to move up to better offices, according to Newman.

"W&M is able to price space aggressively for replacement leasing to new, credit-worthy tenants. This is possible because many of our older, expiring leases were signed at well- below current market rate. Companies that wish to upgrade to Class-A space with top-of-the-line building amenities are taking advantage of these leasing opportunities," he adds.

The largest blocks of space available are at Soundview Plaza in Stamford, MerrittView in Norwalk, and 711 Westchester Ave. in White Plains, N.Y.