Manhattan office leasing through March 2019

OFFICE LEASING IN MANHATTAN

• Midtown office leasing bounced back in March, totaling 1.34 million square feet, a 35 percent increase from the month prior. The availability rate had a slight dip, to 10.7 percent, while the average asking rent rose past February’s post-2008 record, to $86.57. The largest deal in Midtown and the city overall went to the Bank of Montreal’s investment banking subsidiary BMO Capital Markets, which picked up 215,056 square feet on a 15-year lease at the Durst Organization’s 151 West 42nd Street, closing out Condé Nast’s old space in the process.
• Leasing activity in Midtown South followed a slow February with a sluggish March, with 230,000 square feet in leases signed, down 15 percent from the year before. The availability rate rose to 10.2 percent, while the average asking rent jumped to $83.51 per square foot. The taking rent index, or initial taking rents as a percentage of asking rents, hit a three-year high of 97 percent. The submarket’s largest deal was Deloitte’s 58,110-square-foot expansion at 330 Hudson Street, where the “Big Four” accounting firm now subleases a total of nearly 100,000 square feet from British publisher Pearson.
• Lower Manhattan had 42 percent more office leasing activity in March than the month prior, totaling 640,000 square feet, nearly two-and-a-half times the volume of the same month last year. The availability rate fell slightly, to 13.3 percent, and the average asking rent was flat at $62.16 per square foot. The largest deal was flexible office space firm Convene’s 76,359-square-foot lease at 230 Vesey Street, where it plans to establish a flagship Brookfield Place location in space previously occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue.

MIDTOWN’S LEASING ACTIVITY AND AVAILABILITY RATE

MIDTOWN’S AVERAGE ASKING RENT AND TAKING RENT INDEX

MIDTOWN SOUTH’S LEASING ACTIVITY AND AVAILABILITY RATE

MIDTOWN SOUTH’S AVERAGE ASKING RENT AND TAKING RENT INDEX

DOWNTOWN’S LEASING ACTIVITY AND AVAILABILITY RATE

DOWNTOWN’S AVERAGE ASKING RENT AND TAKING RENT INDEX

TOP DEALS

MIDTOWN’S TOP RECENT TRANSACTIONS

Source: CBRE and TRD

MIDTOWN SOUTH AND DOWNTOWN’S TOP RECENT TRANSACTIONS

Source: CBRE and TRD