New York Market Overview

Market Overview:

Office:
Midtown saw 1,070,000 square feet in office leases signed, up 37% from the prior month but down 39% year-over-year. The availability rate rose to 11.5% with the average asking rent hitting a new high of $89.45.

Midtown South leasing increased to 420,000 square feet up 27% from the prior month but down 9% year-over-year. The availability rate dropped to 9%, average asking rent down to $83.56 per square foot.

Lower Manhattan saw leasing pick up with 260,000 square feet, up 62% from the month before and up 68% year-over-year. The availability rate dropped further to 11.8% and the average asking rent fell to $62.34 per square foot.

Overall, manhattan leases totaled about 2.2 million square feet.

The total square footage of the top 10 office leases was a major jump from last month’s total of 820,500 square feet.

1. Tribeca Associates, Meadow Partners, and PGIM Associates signed a 99-year ground lease at 295 Fifth Avenue for 614,040 square feet. The landlord is Manhattan Properties Company.
2. Cravath Swaine & Moore signed a lease to occupy 13 floors at 2 Manhattan West for 481,000 square feet. The landlord is Brookfield Property Partners.
3. Uber signed a lease at 3 World Trade Center for 300,000 square feet. The landlord is Silverstein Properties.
4. BMW of America renewed its 10-year lease at 555 West 57th Street for 227,000 square feet. The landlord is Jones Lang LaSalle.
5. LsignedIn expanded its lease at 350 Fifth Avenue for 188,653 square feet. The landlord is Empire State Realty Trust.
6. Katten signed a lease at 50 Rockefeller Plaza for 125,000 square feet. The landlord is Tishman Speyer.
7. Adobe renewed and expanded its lease at 1540 Broadway for 109,296 square feet. The landlord is Edge Fund Advisors.
8. Oak Hill Advisors signed a 15-year lease at One Vanderbilt Avenue for 45,954 square feet. The landlord is SL Green Realty.
9. Better.com expanded its lease at 3 World Trade Center for 45,000 square feet The landlord is Silverstein Properties.
10. Left/Right expanded its lease at 39 West 19th Street for 34,000 square feet. The landlord is the Rosen family.

Retail:
Retail rents declined in seven out of 11 market strips at the end of the third quarter. This has contributed to a 12.3% increase in leasing activity.

Continued retail closing and bankruptcies like fashion chain Forever 21 and Payless have opted to close hundreds of stores.

Fifth Avenue retail rents are slipping. Between 42nd and 49th streets, rents have dropped 25% from the same time last year.

Nearly 9,100 store closures have been announced in 2019, 55% higher than total closures in 2018.

Average Manhattan asking retail rents dropped 5.7% year over year to $750 per square foot on top of a 4.5% decline the previous quarter. Rents along retail Madison Avenue fell 16.9% and Broadway in Soho dropped 14.9%. The rental plunges come as parts of the city are seeing swaths of empty storefronts.

It was another month of restaurants and gyms populating the list of top 10 retail leases.

The top 10 retail leases totaled 103,348 square feet, compared to September’s 187,900.

1. Equinox signed a lease at 31 West 27th Street for 39,025 square feet. The landlord is Savanna.
2. Major League Baseball signed a lease at 1271 Sixth Avenue for 17,000 square feet. The landlord is the Rockefeller Group.
3. Brooklyn Harvest Market signed a 20-year lease at 781 Metropolitan Avenue for 10,000 square feet. The landlord is Adam America.
4. Supreme signed a lease at 190 Bowery for 8,000 square feet. The landlord is RFR Realty.
5. BenMoha Restaurant Group signed a 17-year lease at 1601 Broadway for 6,400 square feet. The landlord is Vornado Realty Trust.
6. 305 Fitness signed a lease at 12 East 14th Street for 5,700 square feet. The landlord is 13th St Associates.
7. Orangetheory signed a lease at 220 East 86th Street for 4,777 square feet. The landlord is Bremen House.
8. 99 Cent Store signed a 10-year lease at 428 Utica Avenue for 4,500 square feet. The landlord is Urban Scape.
9. MY NYC Dentist signed a lease at 315 Hudson Street for 4,446 square feet. The landlord is Jack Resnick & Sons.
10. Brideside Bride signed a sublease at 20 East 20th Street for 3,500 square feet. The sublandlord is Freed USA.

Building Sales:
Manhattan investment sales doubled the previous month with $2.47 billion in deals. Manhattan’s largest deal was Nightingale Properties & Wafra Capital Partners’ $909 million buy of the Coca-Cola Building.