Jim Fagan
Senior managing director, Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut
Age: 59
Experience: 35 years
Jim Fagan says he can’t think of a career choice that would be more enjoyable than commercial real estate, comparing the competition and day-to-day variety of the job to an athletic contest. His career has spanned more than three decades in the tri-state region’s commercial real estate industry. After starting off as an investment sales broker with CBRE, Fagan joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2003, where he leads its Fairfield and Westchester county operations. Fagan said he initially gravitated toward the industry because it was the hottest career path of the day.
Q: How strong are the current requirements for office space in Fairfield County in early 2018?
A: I would say currently there are a very large number of small- to medium-sized transactions in the marketplace and out of this shop alone, we probably do 25 leases a month. Right now there are seven or eight requirements in excess of 100,000 square feet that are looking in the market. It’s a broad range of industries: everything from media to health to education to finance.
Q: What’s the reason for the recent uptick in Greenwich office rents?
A: The central business district of Greenwich is seven or eight buildings and 1.5 million square feet, and those are the buildings that are most favored for the very high-profile financial firms. Most of the tenants are looking to be within walking distance of the train station so they can attract the best employees. For a while, that segment of the market got a little soft. If you’re playing musical chairs and when the music stops there are a few extra chairs, nobody rushes to sit down. But there’s been a lot of activity where tenants have been taking large chunks of space.
Q: Why are tenant procurement costs in Stamford a factor?
A: To procure a tenant, there are a few different costs that landlords incur. One of them is what I would call soft costs, such as brokerage. The big ones are free rent, as well as tenant improvement dollars. As an example, many years ago, a landlord would contribute three dollars a foot for each year the tenant committed. That was a decade ago. Today they’re $5 to $7 a foot for class A buildings and rent is running 1.1 or 1.2 months free for each year the tenant commits to a space. On a 10-year deal if you’d get an extra year for free.
Q: Are office landlords continuing to look at medical office conversions?
A: Some buildings are being torn down for residential. You’re seeing more of the teardowns in Westchester than in Fairfield, but also conversions to congregate care. In Westport, Davis Cos. bought four buildings on the river and converted them into medical. In order to get the parking, they tore down one of the buildings. Medical users want five to six spaces for each 1,000 square feet of building. In Stamford, they’re willing to go without, because there’s better transit options available.
Q: What’s the goal of Cushman & Wakefield’s future leaders program?
A: As a company, Cushman & Wakefield has an obligation to its young professionals to make them wonderful citizens of the community and hopefully long-term employees of the company. We work hard to try to get them there and that’s everything from just professional training to public speaking as well as a philanthropic arm that generates hundreds of thousands of dollars to communities. This year, our Stamford office ran a bowl-a-thon and just out of our office, we raised $75,000 for the Tiny Miracles Foundation, which acts as a private social agency for families going through the difficulties of having premature babies. That hit home with a few of our young professionals that are at that spot in their personal lives.
Q: How is the recruitment process for new employees changing?
A: One type is bringing people from other firms who have a great deal of real estate experience over to our firm. We’ve tried hard to be an employer of choice. The other thing is we take great young people who have enthusiasm and want to work hard and we train them. We have a lot of people who have been with the firm for more than 30 years. That’s a wonderful tribute to the firm in my opinion.
Fagan’s Five Favorite Recent Family Vacation Spots:
- Antigua
- Truro, Massachusetts
- Sandpoint, Idaho
- Sydney, Australia
- San Francisco
