Midtown remains 10th priciest global office market: CBRE

Midtown Manhattan held its position as the most expensive office market in the Americas and the 10th most expensive office market in the world, according to CBRE’s semi-annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey.

But Midtown’s prime office occupancy costs of $127 per square foot — unchanged from CBRE’s previous survey released in June — still lag significantly behind the likes of London’s West End ($272.56) and Hong Kong’s Central business district ($269.31), which remained first and second on the list, respectively.

Downtown Manhattan, meanwhile, moved up one spot up on the list as the 24th priciest office market in the world, according to the report, though the market’s occupancy costs of $86.36 per square foot remained unchanged from CBRE’s previous survey.

Downtown also ranked as only the sixth most expensive office in the U.S., behind the likes of Downtown San Francisco ($116.40 per square foot), Downtown Boston ($102.50), Downtown Washington, D.C. ($94.73) and San Francisco’s Peninsula ($93.02).

Prime occupancy costs – which factor rent as well as local taxes and service charges — increased 3.1 percent year-over-year in the Americas, with CBRE citing “rising office-using employment growth” in the U.S. that stimulated commercial real estate demand nationwide.

Tech-focused office markets, in particular, continue to prosper, with Downtown Seattle ($56.05 per square foot) experiencing 17.3 percent growth in prime office occupancy costs year-over-year – the largest such increase on the list. – Rey Mashayekhi