Nielsen seeks sublet for Midtown South office space

The tight Midtown South office leasing market just got a little bit of breathing room. The Wall Street Journal reported that ratings agency Nielsen has commissioned CBRE Group to market 158,000 square feet of its space for sublet at 770 Broadway, at East 9th Street.

Asking rents for the space, in a Vornado Realty Trust building that also lists AOL, Huffington Post and J. Crew as tenants, were not disclosed.

As has been widely reported, the area is has seen a surge in popularity from office tenants in the technology and media sectors in recent years, and rents have appreciated by 30 percent in Midtown South in the last year to $61 per foot. Recently, Microsoft and Facebook have been said to be shopping for space in the submarket.

The space will be available for occupancy well before Edward Minskoff completes construction of his 400,000-square-foot development nearby at 51 Astor Place. But he said he isn’t worried about competition from the sublease space and called the design of his tower “the coolest new building developed in the last 20 years in Manhattan.” [WSJ, 3rd item]