Manhattan's office market closes the year in style with strongest leasing quarter since Q4 2019

In Q4 2024, Manhattan office leasing volume totaled 10.7 million square feet (msf), building on last quarter's momentum to drive full year 2024 leasing to 35.7 msf, the highest annual total since 41.5 msf in 2019. Leasing was distributed across a diverse tenant mix, but most of the activity remains concentrated in Midtown and among top quality buildings located near major transit hubs. Midtown accounted for 77.0% of leasing volume in Q4, its highest share since Q1 2021, and the Penn Plaza, Grand Central, and Plaza South submarkets combined to account for 48.2% of quarterly leasing volume. Among all Manhattan office leases 50,000 sf or greater, 87.9% were signed in Class A or Trophy buildings, further shrinking the pool of available top tier spaces which command premium pricing. Despite the stronger leasing environment, Manhattan office employment is down 0.7% year-over-year with annual declines in 17 straight months, a point of weakness that bears continued monitoring.

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