Leasing Activity Sees Big Uptick at Hudson Yards

Shockingly, the Avenue of the Americas/Rock Center submarket has had the most activity with 15 leases signed. This small claim to fame, however, is not indicative of how this submarket is trending these days, as another 12 big blocks of space are available along the corridor—the second most out of all of the submarkets to only Grand Central’s 14. To make the comparison fairer across all 17 submarkets, let’s review the total square footage of these big leases signed as a percentage of each submarket’s overall inventory. For interest of time (and my column space), let’s focus on the top five.

Coming in at No. 5, despite Class A average asking rents north of $108 per square foot is Fifth/Madison Avenues with 6.9 percent of its inventory leased.

At No. 4, the Avenue of the Americas/Rock Center submarket rides its 12 big deals with 7.2 percent of its inventory leased to big-block users.

Only one Midtown South submarket makes it into the top five, as Hudson Square/Tribeca had 7.3 percent of its inventory base leased by large tenants.

No. 2 is no surprise as Times Square boasts the lowest Midtown availability rate at 6.7 percent. The large tenants enjoyed 11.8 percent of its inventory since January 2012.

The No. 1 submarket to lease the most blocks of space 75,000 square feet and greater over the past 19-plus months as a percentage of its total inventory base is (drum roll please) Penn Plaza/Hudson Yards! With 10 leases totaling more than 2.3 million square feet, this market had 14.4 percent of its inventory leased to large tenants.

Once again, this submarket proves it’s heating up as the development at the Hudson Yards begins to take shape over the next five years.