Manhattan office leasing activity surged by nearly 80 percent in October from the same time last year, as 2018 continues on its path toward a new post-recession record.
Office leasing activity — including both new leases and renewals — clocked in at 3.97 million square feet last month, according to Colliers International. That was 76.7 percent above October 2017’s total of 2.25 million square feet.
October’s largest lease — the City of New York’s 420,000-square-foot renewal at 90 Church Street — was not only Manhattan’s biggest deal of the month, but the Downtown submarket’s largest deal of the year.
“In the third quarter, there were no leases closed over 100,000 square feet in Lower Manhattan,” said Franklin Wallach, managing director of Colliers’ New York research group. “In October, demand surely increased with three separate deals over 100,000 square feet.”
In addition to the city’s deal, the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel inked a 200,000-square-foot lease at 32 Old Slip. And the New York Police Department signed a 110,000-square-foot expansion at 375 Pearl Street.