Manhattan leasing up 40% so far this year

The Manhattan office market’s hot start to 2017 continued into February, as a strong month of leasing pushed activity nearly 40 percent higher year-over-year.

Led by a pair of large deals downtown, new leases and renewals totaled 3.15 million square feet in February, an increase of 10 percent over activity from February 2016, according to Colliers International.

Following a busy January, 2017’s activity stood at 7.65 million square feet at the end of February, an increase of 39 percent over the first two months of 2016, Colliers’ data show.

Downtown captured the month’s two largest deals: the Royal Bank of Canada’s 403,000-square-foot renewal at 200 Vesey Street and Spotify’s 378,000-square-foot lease at 4 World Trade Center.

Financial brokerage Tullett Prebon also signed a 127,000-square-foot lease at 200 Vesey Street in February. Those big leases in February, combined with the state Attorney General’s 342,000-square-foot lease at 28 Liberty in January, resulted in a very solid two months for Lower Manhattan.

Absorption was positive for the month at 430,000 square feet, and the availability rate climbed 50 basis points from a year ago to 10.1 percent. Manhattan’s average asking rent in February was $73.57, an increase from 71.56 a year earlier.