Manhattan office market improving: CBRE

The Manhattan office market is much healthier than it was a year ago, according to a CB Richard Ellis market report released today. The report, which measures 2010 market activity up until May 1, showed that 6.75 million square feet of office space has been leased so far this year, compared to the same time period in 2009 when 3.45 million square feet had been leased. Of the three key office neighborhoods, Midtown, Midtown South and Downtown, the first two showed improvements in both leasing and absorption, while Downtown struggled somewhat, seeing a moderate increase in the amount of space leased but a decline in absorption from negative 570,000 square feet to 1.6 million square feet. This report comes on the heels of Cushman & Wakefield’s April office market report, which showed that, despite a drop in inventory, rents are declining. TRD