CBRE Says Manhattan Q1 Office Leasing Activity Up Nearly 100% Y-O-Y 

CBRE has released first-quarter office leasing figures for Manhattan, which CBRE said saw leasing activity climb by nearly 100% year-over-year.  

Manhattan overall saw 5.68 million square feet of leasing activity, up 96% from Q1 2021. Leasing was slow in January and February due to the Omicron surge, but tenants returned to the market in force in March, helping to drive a strong finish to the quarter and creating optimism about the market regaining momentum in Q2, CBRE wrote in its report. 

Financial services and the tech sector continue to drive activity. Signature Bank (169,000 square feet at 1400 Broadway) and PDT Partners (110,000 square feet at 60 Columbus Circle) were the two top financial service tenant transactions, while IBM Corporation (328,000 square feet at 1 Madison Avenue), Chainalysis (78,000 square feet at 114 Fifth Avenue) and Celonis (75,000 square feet. at 1 World Trade Center) were the top transactions from the tech sector. 

“High-quality new construction and renovated buildings continue to see the most interest from tenants, and we expect the flight to quality trend to pick up as leasing momentum builds this year,” commented Nicole LaRusso, Senior Director of Research and Analysis, U.S. North Region.