Midtown South rents increase despite availability

From left: Ken McCarthy and 770 Broadway (credit: PropertyShark)
From left: Ken McCarthy and 770 Broadway (credit: PropertyShark)

Though the hip and tech-heavy Midtown South saw a year-over-year increase in availability, neighborhood landlords are still looking to grab higher rents, the New York Observer reported, citing data provided by Cushman & Wakefield. “It’s still a landlord’s market even though that space has come online,” Ken McCarthy, Cushman & Wakefield’s chief economist, told the Observer. “Anyone adding space to the market is asking higher rents.”

Total neighborhood space posted a 9.8 percent year-over-year gain in January to more than 4.5 million square feet. Average rents increased 10.7 percent to roughly $51 per square foot in the same amount of time. Spaces inside both Class A and Class B properties comprised the bulk of availabilities, accounting for 41 percent and 47.1 percent increases, respectively.

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For those priced out of Midtown South, an area dubbed NoMad reportedly has the same pull to attract creative tenants without hefty rents, as previously reported.

The slated departure of Neilsen from its 770 Broadway space increased space availability for the Class A market. On the other hand, for Class B, spaces at 110 Fifth Avenue and 401 Park Avenue South, to name a couple of examples, had an impact on the numbers. [NYO]Zachary Kussin