Manhattan Office Leasing Dipped Slightly in May, But Still Beating 2024

Despite a slight month-over-month dip, leasing activity for Manhattan office space is still strong. 

Manhattan saw 3.13 million square feet of office leases signed in May, a 7.2 percent drop since April, according to the latest report from Colliers. However, leasing volume did grow by 5.2 percent compared to May 2024 and was 15.9 percent above the borough’s 10-year monthly average of 2.7 million square feet.

“The number can always fluctuate dramatically from one month to the next, so we look at it compared to the overall average over the last 10 years,” said Franklin Wallach, executive managing director for research and business development at Colliers. “So demand is still healthy.”

And May saw the largest lease since December 2019 with New York University officially signing a 70-year lease for the entire 1.1 million square feet at Vornado Realty Trust’s 770 Broadway, according to Colliers. That accounted for one-third of the deals signed in May. 

Other significant leases last month included Fox Rothschild’s 73,000-square-foot deal at 101 Park Avenue, Aquarian’s 75,000-square-foot lease at 550 Madison Avenue, JB&B inking 68,000 square feet at 55 Water Street, and Brunello Cucinelli expanding to 51,000 square feet at 689 Fifth Avenue. 

The availability rate tightened to 15.4 percent, its lowest since January 2021, while Manhattan’s average asking rent dropped by 1.2 percent to $73.49 per square foot, Colliers found. 

Breaking things down by area, Midtown saw 1.2 million square feet of leasing, Midtown South had 1.7 million square feet, and Lower Manhattan inked 241,445 square feet of leases. 

The overall numbers for the first five months of 2025 suggest Manhattan is on track for one of its strongest leasing years in more than two decades. 

“If the amount of activity that we’ve seen from Jan. 1 until the end of May simply continues, and that’s a big if, but if it simply continues at this pace for the rest of the year … we would have the strongest year of leasing since 2001,” Wallach said. “The demand is still in a very healthy place, but one or two deals can always move the needle.” 

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.