Long Island

Parkside Realty Inc. recently opened Fulton East, a 12-story, 90,000-square-foot office and retail building located at 215 N. Peoria St. in the heart of Chicago’s Fulton Market District. Its design addresses employee health, safety and wellness.

With the arrival of COVID vaccines and the pent-up urge to “get out of the house”, early signs show a rebound in shopping/dining out, and a thawing of online grocery and food delivery demand. Is this just a temporary rebound?

The COVID-19 Global Pandemic brought an abrupt halt to what had been robust leasing activity in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Tenant’s new focus became the preservation of capital through expense and workforce reduction.

The Long Island market continues at a slow but steady pace, improving over each previous quarter and remaining healthy. Availability in both sectors dipped slightly and predictably rents inched up a bit. The first (1st) quarter experienced several major transactions across every discipline; retail, office and industrial. Newsday signed the largest new office lease of the quarter (84k SF). The industrial market has outpaced the other sectors with substantial increases in rent and increases in the cost per square foot to purchase. A large contributor to the increase is due to the migration of tenants/buyers from Long Island City and NYC boroughs acquiring Long Island facilities at “discounted” rents and lower acquisition costs.