The Annotated Manhattan Office Market, Third Quarter 2013

The summer doldrums didn’t hit Manhattan during the third quarter, as leasing activity continued to tick upward in much of the market. Downtown Manhattan was the strongest performer of the city’s three major submarkets during that period, buoyed by healthy leasing in Class B stock and spillover from Midtown South. Tech continues to be a major driver in all sectors of the market, as growing industry diversification is making up for lack of growth in the financial services sector.

“Overall, Manhattan had a pretty good quarter, and that’s despite the fact it is the summer months and the third quarter is not high volume historically,” summarized Don Noland, managing director of research at Cushman & Wakefield (CWK). With the help of Mr. Noland and Jim Delmonte, director of research, The Commercial Observer sheds some light on the third-quarter office market.