Office

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  

Manhattan’s Office Availability Reaches Highest Rate in Decades; Leasing Volume Continues to Decline In Q4 2020, the continued addition of direct and sublet office space to an already bloated inventory coupled with anemic leasing velocity pushed overall market availability to 15.5% (vs 11.8% in Q4 2019).  Read the complete report here: Q4 2020 Office Market Report

After several years of significant growth, office leasing velocity started to slow in January and fell precipitously in the final days of the first quarter as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although uncertainty abounds as the world navigates through unchartered waters, we foresee leasing velocity stalling further, causing availability rates to materially increase across each of New York City’s submarkets, as a deluge of sublet space is added to 2Q 2020 inventory from…