Reports from multiple brokerages agree: the first quarter of 2025 was the strongest Q1 for Manhattan office leasing in years. Avison Young cited the quarter’s 10.1-million-square-foot tally as the best Q1 total since the beginning of 2018. Savills took it a step further, calling Q1 the strongest quarter, period, since Q4 2019.

The first three months of the year saw an increase in the number of large deals exceeding 100,000 square feet: 14 by Avison Young’s count and 16 according to Savills. “This increase in leasing activity has been
led by the banking, finance, insurance & real estate industry, which has accounted for just under half of all activity this quarter,” according to Avison Young.

Manhattan office’s recovery was reflected in total vacancy decreasing 22 basis points quarter-over-quarter to 15.8%, JLL reported. The improvement was driven partly by a substantial decrease in overall sublease vacancy, which fell 56 bps to 3.2% as sublet leasing volume approached one million square feet.

Pictured: 437 Madison Ave., where Santander renewed its U.S. headquarters lease for nearly 192,000 square feet in Q1.