New York City as a Business Location
A guide to flex space and office space for rent in New York City, as well as general information that may be useful if you are considering renting office space in the city.
For further New York City office space information or to search for offices for rent in New York City, just click. Or contact us for any office space search inquiry.
History & Geography
As arguably the greatest city in the world, New York holds a special place in the hearts and minds of not only its residents but of millions around the globe who have never even been to the Big Apple. The most populous city in the US is located in the northeast of the country at the mouth of the Hudson River, halfway between Washington, D.C., and Boston. New York boasts one of the largest natural harbours in the world, with most of the city on the islands of Manhattan, Staten Island and Long Island. Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was inhabited by the Algonquin tribe of Native Americans. In 1524, Giovanni de Verrazzano became the first European to discover the harbour, which he claimed for France. However, in 1609 explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the harbour and claimed the area for the Netherlands, dubbing it New Netherland. In 1614, the Dutch established the fur-trading colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664, the Dutch surrendered it to the British, who promptly renamed the settlement New York. The settlement grew rapidly under British rule and soon became a city. Though Yellow Fever severely affected its population between 1700 and 1800, the city prospered. In 1769, the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the Revolutionary War, was fought in the area. The Americans were routed, and for the rest of the conflict, New York became an important centre of British military operations. After the war, the city resumed its rapid growth. In the mid-19th century, its population ballooned as immigrants from Ireland fled the Potato Famine. Immigrants also arrived from Germany, Poland and Greece. By the 1920s, New York had become the world’s most famous city, taking the mantle from London. The city’s economy suffered during the Great Depression but boomed in the aftermath of WWII. It again hit the doldrums in the 1960s and 70s but revived in the 1980s, largely thanks to its financial services industry. On September 11th 2001, New York’s World Trade Center was destroyed in the worst terrorist attack on American soil in history. Today New York is a city of enormous power, wielding influence over politics, the economy, culture and media.
Economy
New York is a global centre of finance and commerce. Along with London and Tokyo, the city is considered one of the ‘command centres’ of the global economy. Much of this is due to the size of the city’s financial services industry. Over 35 per cent of the city’s employment income comes from financial services, and New York is home to both the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ, the two largest stock exchanges in the world. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the largest and most influential of America’s 12 regional banks, implements monetary policy in the US. As well as financial services, New York has a large IT industry employing over 43,000 residents of New York. Among the companies with a large presence in New York is Google, which recently moved into 311,000 square feet of office space in New York’s second-largest building on Eighth Avenue. Another significant part of the city’s economy is real estate – Manhattan’s property value has been estimated at USD 800 billion and is home to the headquarters of some of the world’s largest corporations, including more Fortune 500 companies than any other city on earth. Many foreign corporations also have a presence in New York, with one out of every ten private-sector jobs in the city being generated by a non-American company. Media, film, and, of course, retail are also major industries in New York. The city also has one of the largest tourism industries in the world.
Culture & Tourism
New York is famous worldwide for its distinctive culture and abundance of tourism sites and attractions. The city attracts almost 50 million visitors every year and is home to the most visited tourist site in America – Times Square. It also boasts a host of other perennial tourist attractions such as the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Madison Avenue, Greenwich Village, and the Rockefeller Center. New York is also the site of many events which attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, such as its Thanksgiving Day Parade, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and its Halloween Parade. New York City’s booming retail industry is also a major draw, with many tourists coming from Europe and the rest of the world for shopping holidays in the Big Apple. The World Trade Center site has also become a popular place to visit for tourists who want to remember the attack in 2001. Of course, New York also has a wide selection of museums to visit as well, the most recognised being the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Ellis Island Museum and the Guggenheim Museum. The city is also famous for its thriving nightlife, featuring some of the world’s best clubs, pubs, restaurants, and bars, spread across Soho, Tribeca, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
Transportation
Unlike many American cities, New York has a vast and efficient public transportation system. New York’s transport system is the most extensive in the US and runs for 24 hours a day. The city is served by three airports: John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, and LaGuardia. New York is the number one air passenger gateway in America, and John F. Kennedy alone handles more than 47 million passengers per year. New York itself has several options for public transport users, the most popular being the famous New York subway system. The city also boasts an extensive bus system as well as taxicabs and Ubers. Because of its efficient public transport system, New York is one of the most energy-efficient cities in the US, with many of its residents walking to work and approximately 120,000 cycling to work every day. New York has been ranked as the most walkable city in the US.
Office Space to Rent in New York City
Office space for rent in New York City
In the second quarter of 2018, the average quoted leasehold annual rent in the NYC office market across all building classes was $60.26 per square foot. This represents a $0.87 per square foot decrease from $61.13 in the first quarter.
The quoted leasehold office space rents in the 2nd quarter of 2018 across the various submarkets of Manhattan are as follows:
Chelsea – $59, City Hall – $56.82, Columbus Circle – $52.92, Financial District – $53.16, Gramercy Park – $69.59, Grand Central – $64.95, Greenwich Village – $61.30, Harlem / N Manhattan – $40.13, Hudson Square – $78.95, Insurance District – $56.94, Murray Hill – $59.02, Penn Plaza / Fashion – $51.27, Plaza District – $72.73, SoHo – $62.44, Times Square – $63.69, Tribeca – $61.59, U.N. Plaza – $62.59, Upper East Side – $66.02, Upper West Side – $84.10, World Trade Center – $56.21.
Q2 of 2018 was active, and the following office space deals were the most notable of the quarter:
Pfizer, Inc. – 793,000 square feet at 66 Hudson Blvd, Penn Plaza submarket.
Latham & Watkins, LLP – 408,000 square feet at 1271 6th Avenue, Columbus Circle.
Discovery Communications – 360,000 square feet at 230 Park Ave South, Gramercy Park.
J. Crew – 321,731 square feet at 225 Liberty Street, World Trade Center.
Facebook, Inc. – 281,213 square feet at 770 Broadway, Greenwich Village.
Total leasing volume totalled 10 million square feet in the second quarter, as these large leases were completed.
There was over 3million square feet of office space being constructed during Q2 of 2018. The largest projects were:
30 Hudson Yards (500 West 33rd St.): 2,600,000 square feet. Delivery Q3 2019. 100 per cent pre-let. Developer – Oxford Properties Group.
One Manhattan West (400 West 33rd St.): 2,216,610 square feet. Delivery Q1 2019. 55 per cent pre-let. Developer – Brookfield Office Properties.
Two Manhattan West (385 Ninth Ave.): 1,950,140 square feet. Delivery Q1 2023. 0 per cent pre-let. Developer: Brookfield Office Properties.
One Vanderbilt Avenue: 1,732,955 square feet. Delivery Q3 2020. 100 per cent pre-let. Developer: SL Green Realty Corp., Inc.
55 Hudson Yards (550 West 34th St.): 1,556,134 square feet. Delivery Q3 2018. 86 per cent pre-let. Developer: The Related Companies.
The Manhattan office market saw circa 42 million square feet of office leasing activity in 2025, the borough’s strongest annual leasing performance since 2019.
In Q1 2026, Manhattan leased 12.4 million square feet of office space, up 10.5 per cent from the previous quarter and marking the strongest single quarter of leasing since 12.7 million square feet in Q4 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 at the end of Q2 2026.
Manhattan office leasing totalled 10.8 million square feet in Q2 2026.
Savills reported that Manhattan office leasing activity totalled 10.3 million square feet in Q3 2026, down 4.7 per cent from Q2 and 2.8 per cent year over year but still above the 2015-2019 quarterly average.
Manhattan’s overall availability rate fell 0.90 per cent over the quarter and 2.8 per cent year over year to 13.4 per cent, while Class A availability declined to 12.1 per cent. The tightening was broad-based, with 15 of Manhattan’s 19 submarkets recording declines in availability over the quarter. Midtown remained the tightest market at 12.0 per cent, down 1.8 per cent year over year, while Midtown South availability fell 4.7 per cent to 14.4 per cent.
As availability fell, Manhattan’s overall average asking rent rose to $82.14 per square foot per annum, up 8.9 per cent year over year, while Class A asking rents rose 9.9 per cent to $94.91 per square foot. Rent growth was strongest in Midtown, where overall average asking rents reached $86.96 per square foot, and Class A asking rents surpassed $100.00 per square foot for the first time, reaching $102.36 per square foot. Midtown South Class A asking rents rose to $111.99 per square foot, while Downtown Class A asking rents reached $71.46 per square foot.
Renting an Office in NYC
The popularity of flexible workspaces in New York City continues, with serviced offices, managed office space, co-working spaces, hot desks, and other options increasingly chosen by occupiers ranging from solopreneurs to corporations.
In 2018, WeWork was just one lease away from being the biggest private office space occupier in Manhattan. If it leased just another 75,000 square feet — which was a typical size for WeWork — it would occupy more space than JPMorgan Chase, at the time, the biggest office occupant in New York’s Manhattan market.
Large tenants were increasingly adopting WeWork’s space, and the company recently announced that 22 per cent of Fortune 500 companies are WeWork members.
Other large flexible workspace providers in New York include Regus and Spaces – part of the IWG group, and Servcorp.
List of Flexible Workspace and Coworking Providers in New York City
If you require any further information regarding offices and flexible workspace in NYC, please Contact Us
Our office space search, advisory and acquisition services are FREE, always. Our New York City office agents and brokers are globally regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), ensuring the highest standards of commercial property advice and service at all times.
The Office Providers is Regulated by the RICS