News
OUT OF THE 3Q WOODS
October 7, 2009
| It seems our life is measured by Cushman & Wakefield’s quarterly market updates (is it really 4Q already?) at Michael’s Restaurant on W. 55th. Yesterday, NY COO Joe Harbert and economic guru Ken McCarthy took the podium, noting that even though Manhattan vacancies reached a five-year high, leasing is strengthening. |
 |
| Ken, center, with Joe, Celine Clarke, Americas CEO John Santora, and Frank Liantonio, says that NYC hasn't not been hit as hard as we'd expected, given the nature of the decline. We've seen a smaller drop in overall office employment—6.4% versus the US's 7.6%. Joe adds that the 11.3M SF of leasing activity is up 50.1% compared to 2Q, with 3Q the strongest in leasing since 2Q08. Tenants are starting to make long-term decisions and locking in attractive rental rates, which continue to decline (22% of YTD leases over 50k SF were subleases). However, large blocks are being taken off the market and sublease space has decreased 2.7%, the first time since YE07. |
 |
| Team Research! Faith Ramsour, Jenna Catalon, Rick Cleveland,Lori Albert, and Maria Sicola are armed with the stats you need. Maria traveled all the way from San Francisco to share national trends with us. After the Dotcom crash, she notes, there was much more sublease space on the market, and we have no indication that 40M SF will be added to the current supply to match that era. NYC continues to dominate in leasing, but everywhere else is still suffering declines and weakening in the CBD office sector. However, Orange County and San Fran may be the first markets to come out of the recession, she adds. |
