Downtown set for Spring flurry as plus-sized deals start lining up.

The first quarter of 2006 experienced a slowdown in leasing activity as compared to the same period last year but according to real estate experts, a number of large transactions that seem on the cusp of consummation could go a long way towards resuscitating by the year's end.

"I really look at the first quarter as a hiccup in the market," said Dean Shapiro, an executive managing director at CB Richard Ellis. "Not everything happens uniformly. There are a lot of deals pending out there that are going to happen and you'll see a flurry of activity all of a sudden."

Downtown, which has lagged well behind midtown in vacancy and has seen a record gulf in average rental rates between it and midtown, has a number of major deals that are pending according to sources.

Insurance firm The Willis Group is said to currently be in negotiations for roughly 200,000 s/f at the Brookfield Properties owned One World Financial Center. Law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, the building's largest tenant with 14 floors, is rumored to be making moves to expand by between 50,000-60,000 s/f.

One World Financial Center isn't the only building in Brookfield's portfolio that has just gotten deals done. The 2.2 million s/f One Liberty Plaza has seen recent activity as well. Meanwhile, insurance giant AIG has just singed a deal for four floors at 160 Water Street in a transaction worth over 86,000 s/f.

Many of the deals getting done could likely be for higher rents than they would have achieved in even recent months. According to market data from Cushman & Wakefield, average rents downtown have risen to roughly $35 per s/f, up from $31 per s/f at the end of 2005.

"The market is interesting right now," said Joe Harbert, C&W's chief operating officer for the firm's New York Metro Region. "Leasing activity is off but the competition is up because there's less space and the increasing rents are starting to reflect a shortage of space."

While it seems that the pace of big deal activity has tapered somewhat in midtown, in part because there is shorter list of available large block spaces, there are a number of notable exceptions. The New York Times building has secured large space commitments, sources indicate, although just with whom and for how much has been a subject of competing estimates. Law firm Dechert, represented by a C&W team led by. Mitchell Konsker, is said to be in negotiations for 200,000 s/f. Fellow law firm Covington & Burling, who is being repped by Studley's Mitchell Steir, is also rumored to be considering a move to the building from its current home at 1330 Avenue of the Americas. The National Hockey League, which currently has offices in 1251 Avenue of the Americas, is also reportedly in talks for space with the CBRE team repping the building.

The 200,000 s/f AON sublease space at Park Avenue Plaza has also been reportedly nearly completely absorbed by existing tenants in the building, advisory and investment firm Evercore Partners and McKinsey & Co. The broker for that transaction was CBRE's Ken Rapp, who could not be reached for comment.