New York Market Overview

Manhattan office

Manhattan Office leasing was down 4.2% in November and 16.2% year-over-year.
Office availability in Midtown South is up, with subleasing comprising 27% of availability.
Downtown leasing activity was slow as the market waits for big deals in the pipeline to close.

Manhattan Retail

Between fall 2015 and 2016, average asking rents fell in 11 of Manhattan’s 17 retail submarkets. The Flatiron District on Broadway between 14th and 23rd streets was hardest-hit, with asking rents down 23%. Herald Square as well as on Madison Avenue between 59th and 72nd streets saw asking rents drop 11%.
Uncertainty continues in the city’s retail market. Asking rents have dipped across large parts of Manhattan. Availability rates increased year-over-year in almost every retail submarket of the borough last quarter. Tenants are not signing up for pricey long-term leases, landlords have had to adjust and are more open to short-term leases.
The Financial District stood out as the past year’s outlier, with asking rents rising 20% as space in new developments in World Trade Center came online. Overall, tenants have been less willing to sign pricey leases, while landlords have been equally unrelenting when it comes to lowering their asking rents. The result is less leases being completed.