Will Suarez, Avison Young
Will Suarez
Principal, Avison Young
Age: 61
Industry experience: 13 years
Will Suarez spent the bulk of his career in advertising and sales before making the move into commercial real estate in 2012. Now a principal at Avison Young’s Fairfield County office in Norwalk, Suarez puts his powers of persuasion to work expanding the brokerage’s local investment sales volume, particularly in the multifamily, industrial and retail sectors. A Westchester County native, Suarez previously worked for Massey Knakal Realty Services, Cushman & Wakefield and JLL before joining Avison Young in 2020.
Q: What are the unique characteristics of Fairfield County’s market?
A: Fairfield County has a lot of brokers who specialize in each town. We’re applying that hyper-local expertise and that’s the main thing I brought with me to a smaller market. It’s all about being an expert and being well-versed on everything that possibly could happen. This business is an information business.
To that point, I publish a quarterly report on Fairfield County and expanded that out to be a Connecticut-wide report this year. How does Fairfield County fit into the scope of all Connecticut and into the scope of all investments? Investors are buying across borders.
On office, the Fairfield County office market has about a 25 percent vacancy rate. And that’s systemic. That’s been there a long time, pre- and post-COVID. But our problem is just having too much inventory. Class A, which is more than half of our inventory, is where the highest vacancy rates are, which is a little counter-intuitive. In Manhattan, class A is where all the action is. We just have too much.
Class B has the healthiest occupancy rate, but the buildings are kind of obsolete, so they make a good candidate for conversions. Class A has too much inventory, but in Darien, Westport and Greenwich and the smaller markets, they are getting fully leased and really solid rents. It’s not across the board. There are pockets of really solid activity. In Stamford near the train station, those buildings are pretty well leased up.
With the rapid development of new multifamily properties in Norfolk, Stamford and even Greenwich, the local retail is going to become much more interesting and the demand for grocery-anchored strip centers is just going through the roof. You’re going to see more product come to market as the volatility passes, and deals are getting done again at strong pricing.
Q: How have the tariff increases and negotiations affected transactions?
A: What I hear from the clients all the time is that the tariff noise is really about the impact on inflation. As inflation rises, the Fed will raise rates, and that can directly impact the cost of capital. We haven’t seen the inflation numbers go up, and so I think that up until this point, the tariff discussion inserts a certain level of volatility and fear to give people pause. I believe with a couple more months under our belts where inflation is in check, the Fed might leave rates where they are or reduce them.
Q: What recent transactions illustrate where the market seems to be headed?
A: On the macro level, 2023 and 2024 and projected in 2025 there’s been a leveling off of activity, in a good way. 2022 was a record year with $6.2 billion in transactions across Connecticut. In 2023, interest rates really impacted the market, and we are still living in that cycle. In the 10-year Treasury note, there is at least a range that people can start to rely on. It’s taking out some of the uncertainty, which allows people to start transacting.
And a lot of money has been sitting on the sidelines. An example is a multifamily property we have under contract: the deal is going to get done at a 6 percent cap rate. It’s a 55-unit building in Norwalk for $18 million. Last year there were two significant multifamily transactions hovering around that 6 percent cap rate. That’s an indication that buyers are willing to pay a higher number than they would have even a year ago.
Another example is industrial. That’s been a very high demand sector, and we’ve had five or six transactions. Unfortunately for Fairfield County, there’s not a lot of big buildings. But there’s modest demand and it’s picking up.
Q: How can brokerages expand their service offerings amid the downturn in transaction activity?
A: Thankfully, Avison Young is very competitive because we are full service, across the globe. In this office in Fairfield County, we have investment sales, office leasing, industrial leasing, debt and equity folks and we have access to property management services. We’re a modest-sized office and we collaborate on everything. We share information.
Saurez’s Five Favorite Road Trip Songs
- “Close to the Edge” by YES
- “Going to California” by Led Zeppelin
- “American Girl” by Tom Petty
- “Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam
- “So Lonely” by The Police
