Office Sublets Are On The Rise As Tenants Take Less Space
Multiple studies have found that office subleases are becoming more available across Manhattan.
About 3.5M SF of sublease space has become available since June 2016, a 44.8% year-over-year increase. One of the main drivers of the increase has been a decrease in the average per-employee footprint in offices across the borough, according to a Savills Studley survey reported by the New York Post.
As recently as one year ago, offices were averaging close to 200-225 SF per worker, that average has since dropped to 125-135 SF. That has been one of the drivers of sublease space increasing in Midtown by 19% in Q1 2017 and 6.7% in Q2. The other: Office tenants are leaving current leases early for new space and attempting to sublet the remainder of their old deals.
Some of the buildings that have experienced the latter are 399 Park Ave., 520 Madison Ave. and 540 Madison, according to a JLL study. All told, subleases make up 2.4% of available office space in Manhattan, a 0.6% increase over a year ago.
