Westchester County Business Journal 042318

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A TASTE OF THE SOUTH

SL GREEN SELLING PROPERTIES

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APRIL 23, 2018 | VOL. 54, No. 17

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YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS, COVERING THE HUDSON VALLEY

westfaironline.com

Office conversions set Westchester market for strong ’18 BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH rdeffenbaugh@westfairinc.com

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illiam V. Cuddy, CBRE Group Inc.’s executive vice president, said it’s finally happened: “While it’s taken decades to declare, Westchester is a landlord’s market.” Cuddy was discussing CBRE’s first-quarter Westchester County office market report, which found the county recorded about 205,000 square feet of total leasing activity during the first quarter. That number is up from the previous two quarters, but it still represented the weakest leasing start to a year since 2009. Still, CBRE took a positive view of the office market, citing a low availability rate, growth in occupancy and average asking rents at a 15-year high.

A partial view of the White Plains Central Business District from the train station. Photo by Ryan Deffenbaugh

Rivertowns Square sold for $69M BY ALEESIA FORNI aforni@westfairinc.com

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ivertowns Square, the sprawling development off the Saw Mill River Parkway in Dobbs Ferry, has a new owner. The site’s developer, Saber Dobbs Ferry LLC, sold the 450,000-square-foot property to Regency Centers for $69 million. “We’re very proud of this new mixed-use community we created and the quality of the development,” Martin Berger, co-developer of Rivertowns Square, said in a statement. “It

will surely season well over the long term as it’s truly a center that was designed and developed to meet the needs and desires of how people will live in the future and has become the model for Saber’s next two developments.” The purchase of Rivertowns Square marks the first property acquisition in Westchester for Regency Centers, a Jacksonville, Florida-based owner, operator and developer of grocery-anchored retail centers across the country. The company has 21 offices nationwide, including one in Westport, Connecticut. According to the company’s website, it owns 10 shopping

centers across Fairfield County. Joanna Rotonde, senior manager of Northeast transactions with Regency Centers, said the company is excited to be a part of the Dobbs Ferry community. “As we continue to expand our presence in the best-in-class markets, we are focused on shopping centers with premier demographics that offer opportunities to enhance the customer experience,” she said, adding that “Rivertowns Square is a great addition to our portfolio.” Rotonde said the company looks forward to “adding further enhancements to the » RIVERTOWNS SQUARE

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A section of Rivertowns Square in Dobbs Ferry. Photo by Aleesia Forni.

“The quarterly transactional activity was weak, if not anemic,” Cuddy said. “But the interesting item we’re pointing out is that the overall market remains robust and strong.” The real estate firm pointed to an availability rate of 22 percent, with roughly 5.8 million square feet out of the county’s 26.7 million-square-foot market available. That’s down from a peak of 6.9 million square feet available in the spring 2016. CBRE also reported the county had about 60,000 square feet of positive net absorption, which follows a year in which the county had more than 500,000 square feet of total occupancy gains.

ADAPTIVE REUSE

The biggest factor helping the market, Cuddy said, is » WESTCHESTER MARKET

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