Overall, office space leasing activity grew across Manhattan by as much as 16 per cent over the 12-month period, to the surprise of many observers, reaching levels not seen in over a decade.
According to Cushman’s latest figures, 30.1 million square feet of Manhattan office space was reportedly left last year, with the headline vacancy rate falling from 10.5 per cent to 9.1 per cent.
By way of explanation for the positive showing, Joe Harbert, Cushman’s chief operating officer for the New York metropolitan area, said: “You had pent-up demand coming out of the recession.
“Corporations realised that, relative to the past market, this was a market in which a company could go out and, for a reasonable price, see a lot of alternatives and find high-quality space,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.
Manhattan is, of course, a key market for the wider New York office space sector, which is, in turn, a crucial indicator of performance within the US real estate industry and the national economy as a whole.
There has been widespread concern that the continuing economic crisis in the Eurozone would severely dampen optimism and office renting activity among financial services companies in New York. However, performance in this context has so far been notably resilient.
New York City’s reputation as a centre for financial sector operators is well established, but significant efforts are being made to develop its position as a hub of technology innovation and business development. A series of office ‘incubators’ has been established across the city to support the growth of tech-based start-ups, while global tech brands like Twitter have set up new offices in New York in recent months.
Editor’s notes: The total year take-up of office space through leasing deals in Manhattan in 2022 was 29.11 million square feet, higher than 2021’s 24.96 million square feet figure. However, it was 12 per cent lower than the ten-year average of 33.09 million square feet of office space.
In 2023, total leasing activity finished 6 per cent below 2022, at 27.25 million square feet. At year-end, the office availability rate remained at a record high, up 5 per cent from the previous year, with 96.5 million square feet of available space compared to 76 million square feet the previous year.
Total office space leased in Manhattan in 2025 was about 42 million square feet, the strongest annual leasing performance the borough has seen since 2019.
In the first quarter of 2026, 12.4 million square feet was leased, up 10.5 per cent from the previous quarter and marking the strongest single quarter of leasing since 12.7 million square feet in the fourth quarter of 2019.
New York City’s overall office vacancy, across its five boroughs, stood at 14.6 per cent in Q1 2026, compared with the US nationwide vacancy rate of 16.4 per cent.
Manhattan’s office vacancy rate stood at 13.1 per cent.