Manhattan commercial lease size up

Manhattan’s largest commercial leases are getting even larger, according to a report from Jones Lang LaSalle. The group said that the median commercial lease size on spaces greater than 10,000 square feet has reached its highest level since the beginning of 2008. This quarter, thus far, is seeing the median size of commercial space leased at 40,000 square feet, while the first quarter of 2008 was at a median of around 30,000 square feet. Despite this, recent reports have suggested that the commercial market may continue to suffer and Jones Lang LaSalle Director Peter Hennessy cautioned against reading too much into the report. “It’s too early to say things are improving,” Hennessy said. But deals over 100,000 square feet are getting done. As The Real Deal reported earlier this month, there were four leases over 100,000 square feet in Midtown last month, that together made up 57 percent of all lease deals over 100,000 square feet done this year, according to Pamela Murphy, senior vice president for research at CBRE’s tri-state region.