County's office vacancy rate enjoys a dip.

During the fourth quarter the vacancy rate for Class A office buildings in Fairfield County decreased from 17.0% last quarter to 16.1% this quarter, according to a report by Albert Ashforth, Inc.

At the end of the fourth quarter, there were 5,505,995 square feet of Class A space available versus 5,804,173 s/f at the end of the third quarter. This compares to a 15.5% vacancy rate and 5,223,196 available square feet at the end of 2004.

946,850 s/f of Class A space were leased or taken off the Fairfield County market this quarter versus 560,386 square feet in the previous quarter and 567,838 s/f during the same period a year ago.

Fourth quarter asking rents averaged $29.65 per square foot, up slightly from last quarter's $29.52 average and the $29.78 average at the end of 2004.

In Stamford, the Class A vacancy rate decreased to 19.9% this quarter from 20.4% last quarter, compared to 15.0% one year ago. Among Class A buildings in Stamford, 396,097 square feet were leased this quarter compared to 167,316 s/f last quarter and 152,217 s/f in the fourth quarter one year ago.

There were 2,397,105 s/f of Class A space available in Stamford at the end of the fourth quarter versus 2,436,523 s/ft last quarter and 1,790,771 s/f a year ago. The average asking price of Class A space increased slightly to $31.71 per square foot compared to $30.79 per square foot last quarter and $30.78 in the fourth quarter 2004. For the final quarter of 2005, the following significant leases were signed in the County:

Plainfield Asset Management LLC, P.A.W. Capital Partners, L.P. and Libertas Partners LLC in Greenwich; Genova, UBS, and Five Mile Capital Partners LLC in Stamford; Colangelo Synergy Marketing, JetBlue Airways Corporation, Carlson Marketing Group, University of Phoenix, and Bridgewater Associates in Central Fairfield County; GECC in Northern Fairfield County; L-3 Communications, New England Technology, and CYA Technologies, Inc., in Eastern Fairfield County.