Glut? Manhattan getting 14M sf of new office space by 2019

Expanding supply, sluggish demand could lead to overbuilding, analysts warn

From left: Renderings of 3 World Trade Center (credit: RSHP), Hudson Yards (credit: Related/Oxford) and One Vanderbilt (credit: Kohn Pedersen Fox)
From left: Renderings of 3 World Trade Center (credit: RSHP), Hudson Yards (credit: Related/Oxford) and One Vanderbilt (credit: Kohn Pedersen Fox)

Larry Silverstein, Brookfield Property Partners and the Related Companies are betting that new office towers will attract a sizable influx of tenants. More than 14 million square feet of office space is in the pipeline in Manhattan, all of which is slated to be built within five years, according to CoStar Group data cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Analysts told the newspaper that the mismatch between supply and demand could lead to overbuilding.

Occupancy of office properties in the borough is up by 4.8 million square feet since 2011. Between 2003 and 2007, office occupancy grew by 28 million square feet.

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“If we lose the demand driver, then they’ve got a problem,” Walter Page of CoStar told the Journal.

Sales of trophy office towers have been fading from the market city-wide, as reported. Investment firms have turned their attention to buying residential buildings or looking for partial office-property stakes and off-market deals. [WSJ]Mark Maurer