Midtown asking rents rise $2 per foot: CBRE

Asking rents in Midtown saw their largest gain in nearly three years last month when they jumped by more than $2 per square foot from a month prior, a monthly report from commercial services firm CB Richard Ellis shows.

The price landlords ask from tenants rose by $2.15 per square foot to $57.97 per foot in February from January, the biggest month-over-month bump since June 2007, when rents rose $2.86 per foot. At that time, rents were just shy of $80 per square foot, CBRE figures reveal.

The increase was spurred by owners in neighborhoods such as Park Avenue north of Grand Central Terminal And The Plaza District repricing space already on the market, the report says.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The increase in asking rents was part of a gradual improvement the market has seen over the past year.

For Manhattan overall, asking rents rose by $1.30 per foot to $49.61 per square foot in February from a month prior, CBRE figures show. Leasing activity declined in February by 25 percent to 1.8 million square feet, but was higher than the same month last year, when 1.5 million square feet was leased. TRD