According to findings from CBRE, commercial leasing in Manhattan’s Midtown South neighborhood was 109% above its five-year monthly average in October.
Despite the uncertainty of the emerging Omicron variant, experts say the neighborhood is experiencing a solid recovery from the pandemic.
“We’ve had five months of positive absorption, so I think that’s a really interesting stat,” said Peter Turchin, a vice chairman at CBRE. “It’s nice to have one month and then two months, but five months of positive absorption in a row, I think, is a really good trend for Midtown South. Five months is more than just a coincidence.”
In addition to leasing activity growing, the availability rate in Midtown South fell to 18.2% in October from 18.8% in September. However, average asking rent slightly fell to $78.37 from $78.98.
Two deals had significant influence on these numbers included Microsoft taking up 143,510 square feet at 122 Fifth Avenue and Verizon taking up 139,000 square feet at 155 Delancey Street.
Midtown experienced similar recovery, with its availability dropping to 16.7% in November from 17.1% in September.
According to analysts, this uptick in office takeup likely stems from tenants looking to bring employees back into the office, as well as others taking advantage of the increased space coming onto the market.
To create a better work environment for employees, Kirill Azovtsev, an executive managing director at Savills, said that companies are transforming their workplaces for those wanting to return to the office.
