New York Office Market Is Booming

New York, NY, October 14, 2025-"New York City’s office market is enjoying its biggest boom in nearly two decades, leaving the rest of the U.S. in its dust,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

“Businesses leased 23.2 million square feet of additional Manhattan office space during the first nine months of 2025, according to real-estate services firm CBRE Group. That is the largest amount of new workspace rented for that period in 19 years.

“A combination of factors is fueling the recovery, from more New York workers heading back to the office regularly to the financial sector’s increasing appetite for more modern office space. Accounting and consulting company Deloitte signed one of the biggest leases this year when it rented nearly three-quarters of a new Hudson Yards skyscraper under development on Manhattan’s West Side.

“Technology, media and advertising companies also gobbled up space this year, extending a recent run. Amazon.com, for one, expanded its New York presence by purchasing a Fifth Avenue building and leasing an additional 330,000 square feet.

“New York is setting the pace for the rest of the country. Manhattan leasing activity in 2025 has now surpassed its 2018-2019 levels. Nationwide, office leasing remains about 11% below its prepandemic average, according to CBRE.  

“Competition for prime space in Manhattan has grown so intense that many large tenants have to choose between a great location or a top-quality building. 

“‘In most other cities, landlords only wish they had that kind of problem,’ said Michael Slattery, CBRE’s research director for the New York region.

“Manhattan developers are moving ahead with more than a half-dozen new office projects, the most at any point since the pandemic. They are encouraged by a record 143 leases signed so far in 2025 for more than $100 a square foot, already more than the total number signed at this level in 2024, CBRE said.”