Apartment Conversions Prop Up the White Plains Office Market

After years of high availability rates and stagnant rents, the White Plains office market is getting a lift from a boom in apartment construction taking place in this city north of New York City.

The surge in apartment development in White Plains also is changing the composition of the commercial property market, creating more of a ’round-the-clock atmosphere with an uptick in restaurants, bars, grocery stores and fitness clubs. The city has about 4,000 apartments in the development pipeline, most of them in the central business district, city officials said. Removing the lower-priced office space from the market inevitably leads to higher average asking office rents that will continue to rise, said William V. Cuddy Jr., a CBRE executive vice president (and WCA Executive Board Member). “And it is making it a much more attractive environment for companies to relocate because they like the live-work vibe that is the White Plains culture.”