BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM

The gates to the Olympic Village in London swung shut nearly two weeks ago, but the mounds of data continue to trickle in.

Indeed, when Erin Patterson, a senior research analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle, began analyzing real estate metrics across the top markets in 12 countries, she soon found a positive correlation between average commercial rental rates and Olympic medals.

“If you have a country that has an office market performing strongly, it’s indicating that these are markets where businesses want to grow and expand,” said Ms. Patterson. “That funnels capital into the marketing place, whcih then can be allocated in a lot of ways, including by making its way to Olympic athletes.”

After the jump, a sampling of 12 countries, average cost per square foot in their largest cities, and the number of medals each of them won during the two-week event.

To see the chart, click here

BY GUS DELAPORTE

In its search for new office space, the Institute for New Economic Thinking was looking for a "next generation" environment with open ceilings and a light, airy environment that fostered collaborative thinking.

An economic think tank founded by fun manager George Soros, Research in Motion's Jim Balsillie and William Janeway of Warburg Pincus, INET has office locations worldwide.

It found what it was looking for in a 7,100-square-foot space on the fifth floor of Rose rose-owned 300 Park Avenue, recently renamed the Creative Arts Building.

Mikael Nahmias, senior managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, reviewed the furniture plan with The Commercial Observer and discussed why, exactly, INET chose 300 Park Avenue South for its headquarters.

To see the floor plan, click here.

BY CARL GAINES

A Benenson Capital Partners veteran—Shaun Henderson—has left the firm after 40 years to strike out on his own, forming Henderson Capital Advisors.

At his new firm, which he told The Commercial Observer has offices in Lower Manhattan as well as Greenwich, Conn., he’ll leverage his past experience while focusing on owner representation.

“I’ve always dreamed of being an entrepreneur and now I’m in a position where I can just go out and experiment and try to do the kind of owner representation work for other people that I enjoyed doing at Benenson for four decades.”

Mr. Henderson said he had build high-rises, warehouses and high-end residential as well as managed hotels.

“So I have this wealth of experience that I wanted to use in a different way, that’s sort of more personal to me.”

To read the full story, click here

BY ROBERT SAMMONS

Stubborn: the best word to describe the Westchester County office market. At the end of July, the Class A vacancy rate settled
in at 20.9 percent and has now been above 20 percent for over two and a half years.

If we go back (way back) in time, it is possible to find when this 20.7-million-square-foot market last saw a number in the single-digits (that would be March 2001, and that sub-10 percent figure lasted only a few short months).

The average asking rent has had a tough go of it as well, remaining between $25 and $30 per square foot since the beginning of the 21st century. A number of reasons for the inability to gain traction have been bandied about: the primary office developments have been in office parks away from public transportation; the building stock is getting long in the tooth; and its suburban cousin, Fairfield County, has been much more aggressive in courting tenants. 

Westchester County, however, may have finally found its niche: biotechnology.

To read the full story, click here