Midtown South Dominates April Leasing Activity

Midtown South stole the show in April, snapping up four of Manhattan’s five largest office leases.

The submarket accounted for nearly 45 percent of all leasing demand, with volume rising to 1.6 million square feet, according to a new Colliers report. That’s 65 percent higher than the 10-year monthly average, per Colliers.

A handful of large deals drove the surge. AI-powered healthcare company Tennr inked a 125,000-square-foot sublease at 345 Hudson Street, a building owned by Hines, Trinity Church Wall Street and Norges Bank, according to Colliers. It was unclear who the sublandlord was, but Google has been trying to sublease 165,000 square feet at the building as it consolidates around St. John’s Terminal.

Trading platform Jump Trading signed a new 99,000-square-foot lease at Related Companies’ 50 Hudson Yards, according to Colliers, and tech firm Sierra inked a 94,000-square-foot lease at Rockrose’s 11 East 26th Street. The leases could not immediately be confirmed with the landlords.

Overall, tenants snapped up 3.6 million square feet of Manhattan office space in April, a steep 38 percent drop from March’s blockbuster volume. But demand was still 30 percent above the 10-year monthly average and nearly 7 percent higher than a year ago.

The borough’s availability rate dipped slightly from March to 13.4 percent. Total available space dropped to 69.9 million square feet, the lowest level since October 2020 and nearly 29 percent below the post-pandemic peak.

Sublet space is also disappearing. Inventory shrank to 10.5 million square feet, down nearly 30 percent year-over-year and at its lowest level since 2019

Downtown also punched above its weight. Leasing more than doubled from March to 851,000 square feet, fueled largely by law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s 475,000-square-foot new lease and relocation at Brookfield’s One Liberty Plaza. The details of the lease were unclear. In 2007, the law signed a 20-year lease for 550,000 square feet.