One step backwards and two steps forward.
Office availability in Midtown set another record last month, furthering the tenant-friendly environment that law firms in particular have been capitalizing on to renegotiate existing leases and return excess space to their respective landlords. With most firms taking the "wait-and-see-approach", the largest law firm leasing deals in NYC over the last year have been for no more than 5 years.
Anecdotally, we've witnessed an uptick in companies gathering intel and interested in hearing about opportunities - just not yet ready to sign on the dotted line. The latest ridership numbers point in the right direction as well, with the total numbers of daily riders trending upwards over the last 4-6 weeks.
According to Kastle Systems (the company that runs many NYC office turn-style/guest access systems), office usage in NYC was most recently reported at 15%, one of the lowest usage rates in the country.
Utilization rates of physical office space will need to improve before companies have enough confidence about their timeline and physical space requirements to sign leases.
If your team finds itself in a similar "intel-gathering stage" and is looking for real-time updates, let's chat!
