Google (GOOGL) is most certainly considered the “mother goose” of the neighborhood – going so far as to push her roosting children out of 111 Eighth Avenue and into the wilds of Midtown South in search of a new home. In turn, this has created further space demand.
The big question of course is will the tech/media boom continue and even if it does, will these tenants remain focused on the increasingly tight and increasingly pricey Midtown South market?
Certainly the current expansion of the industry is more “real” this go-around with established companies marketing real products (unlike the late 1990s when there were a number of companies with plenty of venture capital but no real product). And the jobs provided by the current firms are less marketing and more programming and engineering than at that time (translation: higher paying positions).
No doubt some companies will fade while others will boom and sell themselves to even bigger firms. There will be ups and downs but generally we feel comfortable projecting a continued tightening market.
Companies needing bigger blocks of space or product at a lower price point may focus on Lower Manhattan or even Brooklyn and Long Island City.
