Tech industry drives Long Island office market in first quarter

Long Island's technology industry was a major driver of office leasing in Nassau and Suffolk counties for the first quarter of 2015, according to a new report by the local office of brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

The report cited higher employment in technology, and several renewed lease agreements and relocations as the drivers behind activity in commercial office space.

One of the major renewals was financial software company OpenLink, which renewed its 95,000-square-foot lease at RXR Plaza in Uniondale, Jones Lang LaSalle said.

About a quarter of all leases signed were attributable to software company activity, the report said.

Overall, the Island saw an increase in the number of newly signed leases over the last quarter of 2014.

Four of the region's largest leases were relocations within Long Island, indicating "positive momentum in the office market," the report said.

"It's been a strong start, especially compared to the last quarter of 2014," said Eric Launer, executive vice president for Jones Lang LaSalle's Long Island offices. Whether that positive trend will continue is yet to be seen, he added.

Technology isn't the only sector to have had a positive impact on the commercial office market, though, said David Pennetta, managing broker for Cushman & Wakefield's Melville office.

Pennetta said that his brokerage has also seen modest growth from law, human resources and engineering firms, all of which indicate continued recovery from the recession. His firm is itself planning an office expansion, he added.

"I think it's a broader recovery," he said. "It's not just technology."

For the first quarter of 2015, according to the Jones Lang LaSalle report, 16 leases were signed totaling about 619,000 square feet, up from nine leases totaling about 400,000 square feet for the same period last year.

The company tracks high-end leases of 10,000 square feet or more for its commercial office reports.