Office

Lee & Associates NYC successfully represented Telecom Infrastructure Corp. in its strategic relocation to 2 West 45th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The telecommunications firm is moving from its previous location at 8 E. 41st Street, where it occupied 2,000 square feet, to a new, larger office space as part of its growth plans. Telecom signed a five-year and four-month lease for 3,944 square feet in the 16-story building and is set to move in this…

New York City’s economy continued to show signs of progress through Q1 2024. As of February 2024, the unemployment rate decreased to 5.10%, marking a 0.20% improvement from the previous quarter and significantly below the historical average of 7.72%. This improvement reflects a growing economy as private sector employment rose by 19,200 jobs year-over-year, totaling 4,090,200. The broader nonfarm job sector nearly returned to its pre-pandemic levels, reaching 98.7% recovery with 4,659,600 jobs. Read the…

Leasing activity fell below historical levels in the second quarter to 6.2 million square feet, reflecting a 31.4% year-over-year decline and a 29.5% decline from the five-year rolling quarterly average of 8.8 million square feet. Q2 2023 leasing activity outpaced the first quarter due to a 630,000 square foot lease signed at 110 William Street by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, leading to a 7.4% quarter-over-quarter increase in total activity. For the first half…

In the first quarter, leasing activity in Manhattan totaled just 5.5 million square feet, a 31.4% decline from the same period last year and a 29.9% decline from last quarter. Larger deals were driven by renewals, indicative of tenants’ hesitancy to commit to significant real estate decisions in the current market. Meanwhile, availability stood at 18.4%, reflecting an additional 36.2 million square feet on the market compared to 2020 Q2, leading to a persisting supply-demand…

The Commercial Observer referenced Sarah Orcutt’s Q4 Office Market Report in this article discussing leasing activity trends.  

At the close of the year, national and local labor markets remained strong despite the Federal Reserve’s continued efforts to cool demand. National unemployment in November was 3.7% while New York City’s rate was 5.8%, unchanged from October but down 1.7% year-over-year. Read the complete report here: Q4 2022 Manhattan Office Market Report

At 8.3 million square feet, Q3 2022 was the strongest quarter for Manhattan leasing activity of the year so far, up by 5.1% from the previous quarter. However, activity was down by 4.6% from the same period last year and 24.8% from the pre-pandemic (2017- 2019) average of 11.0 million SF. Read the complete report here: Q3 2022 Manhattan Office Market Report

Manhattan leasing activity remained steady in the first two quarters of the year but has tapered off slightly from a strong second half of 2021 when leasing totaled 19.0 million SF. Read the complete report here: Midyear 2022 Office Market Report

Manhattan Leasing Velocity Falls to Lowest Level of the Pandemic; Market Fundamentals Continue to Favor Tenants As the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival in New York City passes, the Manhattan office leasing market remains suppressed and skewed in favor of tenants.  Read the complete report here: Q12021 Office Market Report Final