Leasing Recovery 'When Pigs Fly'

Don't expect the data center leasing market to recover until at least the second half of 2002. That's the verdict of CarrierHotels.com readers who participated in our latest online survey.

The 102 respondents were fairly pessimistic. The most popular response, picked by 28.5 percent of participants, was that the market would recover "when pigs fly." The next choice was the second half of 2002, picked by 23.5 percent. Just 8.8 percent saw a recovery beginning in the third quarter of this year, while 9.8 percent predicted a turnaround in the fourth quarter of 2001.

Interestingly, in the past week we received more press releases touting new business than we've seen in many moons. Among them were $25 million in new hosting business for Globix, 30 signed tenants for the NAP of the Americas in Miami, and a $137 million contract between Global Crossing and the Defense Department. Among smaller providers, Solid Systems announced three new tenants for its Baton Rouge facility. Is this an upward blip, or just a lucky confluence of announcements? We shall see.

Our new poll is now online, and asks "What's your current leasing strategy?" Return to our home page (http://www.carrierhotels.com) and check it out.