Hot market for spec office space

Buoyed by the city’s strong commercial market, speculative office projects currently under way — such as 7 World Trade Center and the new New York Times building — are having no trouble attracting tenants. According to industry experts, there’s a lot of demand for new office space, and tenants are willing to take the risk of leasing on spec before a building is completed. “You saw virtually no development happen in the ’90s,” said Mary Ann Tighe, the regional chief executive for CB Richard Ellis. “The fear of it was driven by the fact that so many banks had gotten burned, but it was not just lending institutions. I think there were many in the real estate community in New York who felt it was inappropriately risky and bad for real estate if you were putting supply on the market speculatively.” more [NYT]