The Manhattan office property sector has reached a leasing level not seen since before the pandemic.
According to a report in The Real Deal citing Colliers data, office leasing activity in November helped push the year-to-date volume to roughly 30.4 million square feet. This marked the first time since 2019 that the leasing volume hit the 30 million square foot mark.
Several major new leases signed during November helped to boost the volume level – the co-working firm WeWork signed a 304,000-square-foot lease on behalf of Amazon at Vornado Realty Trust’s 330 West 34th Street property, Ropes & Gray’s 430,000-square-foot lease at Scott Rechler’s firm’s 1285 Sixth Avenue, and Apple’s 61,000-square-foot expansion at Vornado’s Penn 11.
As a result, the month’s leasing activity more than 25% above the 10-year monthly average. Prior to the pandemic, a typical year’s leasing activity was in the low 30 million range. The availability rate for this market dropped to 16.7%, the lowest since September 2022, a situation that was fueled by ongoing office-residential conversions.
“That is one of the critical milestones that the market has been waiting on for quite some time,” said Franklin Wallach, executive managing director of research and business development at Colliers.
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