Sixth Avenue Top Location For Manhattan Office Leasing
Midtown Manhattan remains the most active submarket in the city for large office leases, reported the Avenue of the Americas Association, New York.
In particular, Midtown Manhattan’s West Side, led by Avenue of the Americas, saw the most office leasing last year with 29 of the 50 largest leases signed. Avenue of the Americas–also known as Sixth Avenue–also ranked first among all Manhattan locations last year, accounting for 10 of the 50 largest leases and 3.2 million square feet, up more than 40 percent from 2.3 million square feet in 2016.
Rockefeller Group President and CEO-elect Daniel Moore said the largest and most sophisticated New York office tenants prefer new or like-new assets in accessible, amenity-rich environments. “New and renovated properties throughout Manhattan have benefitted from this trend, with Midtown standing out as the location of choice, whether it be in centrally located renovated buildings along Sixth and Seventh Avenues or the new developments on the Far West Side,” he said.
The second-annual Avenue Report reported other strong West Side locations included Tenth Avenue, where the Hudson Yards development houses several new office properties, as well as Seventh Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Tenth Avenue was the second most popular location last year with four leases totaling 1.66 million square feet. Seventh Avenue followed with six leases totaling 1.65 million square feet. Broadway finished fifth with two leases on the West Side and three in Lower Manhattan for a total 1.14 million square feet.
Lower Manhattan activity jumped from six leases in 2016 to 11 in 2017. Downtown leasing volume reached nearly 3.0 million square feet last year–21 percent of the total–up from 1.7 million square feet in the prior year.
New leases outpaced renewals or expansions last year, comprising 30 of the 50 largest leases, the report said. The largest new lease of the year was BlackRock’s 847,000-square-foot lease at 50 Hudson Yards; the largest renewal was 793,700 square feet for 21st Century Fox at 1211 Sixth Avenue.
Brookfield Office Properties led the industry in 2017 for overall deal volume and square footage leased, including new leases, renewals or expansions. Properties owned by Brookfield accounted for 11 of the 50 largest leases and 3.2 million square feet.
Other Manhattan avenues and streets that remained among the top 10 for leasing activity included Fifth Avenue, Church Street and Madison Avenue. Newcomers to the top 10 included Seventh Avenue, Liberty Street, Ninth Avenue and Lexington Avenue, the report said. Park Avenue, Water Street, Second Avenue and Third Avenue fell out of the top 10 for 2017.
