Overall availability in Manhattan slid to 48,185,125 square feet in April, down from 48,880,662 square feet in March. The survey, conducted by Cassidy Turley, covers 461 million square feet of inventory in 1,845 buildings and includes space that is currently vacant or will become vacant within six months.
Availability had been on the rise in the two previous months after hitting its lowest figure in January since December 2008. The current rate is more than 12 million square feet below the high set during the recent downturn (March 2010).The most recent improvement was due to a drop in direct availability, which eased by almost 900,000 square feet during the month.
Sublet availability has been a bit more stubborn, rising by 200,000 square feet for the month and by almost 1.1 million square feet since January of this year. Much has been written about the sublet increase in Midtown, but both Midtown South and Downtown have also recorded elevated figures since January (in fact, the Midtown number eased by just over 120,000 square feet in April). Looking ahead, it’s likely Manhattan will see further fluctuations in the next few months, with several major leases due to be signed while several firms are expected to add space, though they yet to make it official.
Robert Sammons, Cassidy Turley
