Manhattan office availability hits record-high 14.9%

Leasing volume totaled 1.9M SF in January, the most since July

1345 Sixth Avenue, 11 Madison Avenue top the list of January deals. (Sapir, WikiMedia)
1345 Sixth Avenue and 11 Madison Avenue top the list of January office deals. (Sapir, WikiMedia)

 

Manhattan has never had as much office space available as it does now.

The office availability rate in January rose for the eighth consecutive month to a record-high 14.9 percent, up 0.6 percentage points from December, and up 4.9 percentage points from a year ago, according to Colliers International.

January’s leasing volume was 1.9 million square feet, the highest since July 2020. But that was still 47 percent below the pre-pandemic monthly average. The average asking rent declined for the seventh consecutive month to $73.65 per square foot per year, the lowest average since April 2018.

The January market did have a few bright spots, said Franklin Wallach, Colliers’ senior managing director for New York research.

“There were some new lease transactions, not just renewals,” Wallach said. “Because in the fourth quarter, the top five leases in Manhattan were renewals or extensions.”

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January’s five largest deals included two new leases: Equitable Holdings signed a 123,000-square-foot lease at Fisher Brothers’ 1345 Sixth Avenue, and Beam Suntory inked a 100,000-square-foot deal at SL Green Realty’s 11 Madison Avenue.

Though it didn’t make it to the top five, Freshly, a meal delivery company, signed a 92,000-square-foot lease at George Comfort & Sons’ 28 East 28th Street.

The net sublet availability increased by 450,000 square feet in January to 18.7 million, up 58.5 percent from a year ago, contributing to the negative net absorption of 2.85 million square feet for the month.

The newly added sublet listings included Mizuho Bank’s 128,000 square feet at the Mitsui Fudosan–owned skyscraper at 1251 Sixth Avenue.