In Midtown Manhattan, Class A office vacancy decreased in November to 11.1 percent, its lowest level since 2008, according to a monthly Manhattan office report from commercial brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, released today. But despite the decline in vacancy rates, momentum seems to have generally slowed since the first half of the year, the report shows; Class A average asking rents increased marginally for the month to $70.36 per square foot from $70.28 per square foot a month earlier.

In Midtown South however, Class A vacancy rose to 6.3 percent from 4.6 percent last month largely due to the addition of a large block of space at 101 Sixth Avenue at Hudson Square. – Katherine Clarke [more]

Manhattan office vacancy rates rose and asking rents fell in July after
a relatively stable June, according to a monthly office market report
from Colliers ABR released today. The Class A vacancy rate in Manhattan rose to
12.1 percent, the highest rate since June 1997. The increase in the Class A
vacancy rate was due to a rise in space available for direct lease, even as
the amount of sublease space on the market actually fell. Class A asking rent dropped
2.1 percent to $64.22 per square foot from $65.77 per square foot in
June. In Midtown, the vacancy rate rose to 13.7 percent, and was over
15 percent in the Plaza and Grand Central submarkets. The vacancy rate
hit 13.9 percent in Midtown South and 8.4 percent downtown, all
increases from June. While July saw several noteworthy leases and
renewals, most were for the same amount of space or less than the
tenant already held, according to the report. TRD

Nearly a fifth of the 15 million square feet in Class A buildings in
the southern portion of the Plaza submarket is available for lease,
according to commercial tenant advisory firm Studley. Nearly 3 million square feet, or 19.3 percent of the total Class A
available space in Manhattan, was on the market in the neighborhood between
Fifth and Second avenues and 50th and 54th streets, according to the
firm’s first-quarter leasing report. The northern half of the Plaza
District is defined as Fifth to Second avenues between 54th and 60th
streets. Overall in Manhattan, the firm predicted the availability rate for all types of office space could hit the same level. [more]