Hurricane? What hurricane? Despite the damages that Sandy visited upon Downtown in late October, the commercial real estate market fared relatively well. In the fourth quarter of 2012, commercial leasing Downtown reached 1.2 million square feet — a 9 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to CBRE.
The largest Downtown deal of 2012 — a 237,000-square-foot lease inked by the New York State Department of Financial Services — closed after Sandy pummeled New York. In addition, the storm did not cancel any deals.
“There was a lot of concern, but despite Sandy we had a very strong fourth quarter,” said Sheldon Cohen, senior managing director at CBRE Group.
CBRE noted that 94 percent of downtown office space is back online. [Crain’s] —Zachary Kussin