Commercial vacancy rate rises to 10.2%

The commercial vacancy rate in Manhattan jumped to 10.2 percent in the fourth quarter this year, up from 7.12 percent in fourth-quarter 2007, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. It is the first time since the first quarter of 2004 that the vacancy rate has reached 10 percent, said James Delmonte, Jones Lang LaSalle’s research director. Manhattan’s inventory is at 424 million square feet, and starting next month, 11 Times Square’s 1.1 million square feet will be added to the market. Much of the fourth quarter’s increased vacancy comes from sublease space, which now accounts for more than one-third of the Class A Midtown market.