Manhattan office rents hit $79.47 a square foot in October
Manhattan office rents matched March 2020 levels in October.
The short version
- Colliers reported average asking rents reached $79.47 per square foot.
- Tenants signed deals for 4.54 million square feet during the month.
- This recovery could push commercial real estate costs higher for businesses.
Manhattan office landlords have finally turned back the clock to before the pandemic. Colliers, the commercial real estate services firm, reported that the borough's overall average asking rent jumped to $79.47 per square foot in October, matching the level seen in March 2020.
Rents climbed 1.4 percent from September, marking the sharpest monthly increase since August 2019, and rose 5.7 percent from a year ago. Tenants inked deals for 4.54 million square feet in October, a 54.1 percent increase from the month before. Year-to-date leasing volume reached 37.39 million square feet, keeping 2026 on track for the best year of office leasing since 2000.
Franklin Wallach, Colliers' executive managing director of research and business development, said the milestones achieved are critical in the long-winding recovery. Midtown and Midtown South accounted for nearly 90 percent of the leasing demand, driven by two blockbuster deals. Citadel, the giant hedge fund firm founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, secured a 1.05 million-square-foot lease at 350 Park Avenue in a joint venture with Vornado Realty Trust, the major commercial landlord, and Rudin, the family-owned real estate company, to develop a 1,400-foot-tall Midtown tower.
In Midtown South, Ramp, the corporate card and spend management software company, signed a 460,000-square-foot extension at Williams Equities, the Manhattan real estate firm, at 28-40 West 23rd Street. Available space in Manhattan continued to shrink, falling to 12.3 percent, its lowest rate since August 2020.
Sublet supply also dropped to its lowest level since August 2019, shrinking 16.2 percent from a year ago. For growing businesses looking for space in the city, the days of bargain pandemic-era sublets are fading fast.
