WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. May 9, 2006: A reader answers a Dream Press Conference Question posed by White Plains Citizen:
One reader asks:
How were you able to get the office vacancy rate in White Plains so far down from the embarrassing 32.7 percent (among highest in the country) as of May, 1994?
I don't think any administration has had enough control over vacancy rates to justify this question.
Private developers make decisions about how much office space they want to build based
on their readings (or misreadings) of current and future demand.
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There was a building bubble during the waning years of the 1980s, and a wave of corporate downsizings in the early 90s led by IBM and AT&T. Prodigy's annual bloodlettings didn't help with vacancy rates either.
I saw this for myself as I worked there for a few years.
So the "embarassing" vacancy rates were the result of a lot of corporate restructuring and general early 1990s economic downturn. The buildings started to fill because the general economy rebounded, Manhattan firms sought to escape high rents and perceived threats post 9/11, and smart building owners repurposed their buildings to accomodate multiple tenants. No one wanted to move into 360 or 445 after IBM and Prodigy vacated; in their wake they left outdated layouts and no amenities. The owners of those buildings invested heavily in build-to-suit interiors and dressed up the exteriors and lobbies.
Guess what wasn't needed to get those tenants to move in? No tax breaks... no City-funded advertising in business and trade publications, no taxpayer funded puddle jumps to other states to convince businesses to come here.
A simple economic recovery and the drive to start earning a return on assets (office buildings)
pushed that vacancy rate back down.
Aaron Woodin
