Report: Office building visitations in Manhattan jump from 66% in February to 74% in March and 75% in April

Manhattan, NY The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) released its latest monthly analysis of Placer.ai location data in 350 Manhattan office buildings for March and April. These reports track mobile data of office tenants and their employees, and, where applicable, also reflects the presence of office visitors and retail customers and employees within those buildings. 

According to the reports, Manhattan office buildings in March 2024 had an average visitation rate of 74% of 2019 levels, with April results inching up to 75%. This is a significant increase from the 66% recorded in February and 70% in March 2023. April’s results represent the highest average since 76% in October 2023.

The highest quality Class A+ properties had an 82% average visitation rate in March and 89% in April. Class A/A- hit 70% and 72% in the back-to-back months, with Class B/C buildings coming in at 72% during both months. Building visitation in every building class and market registered significant increases from February to March, with moderate increases or stable results from March to April.

Looking at submarkets, visitation in Midtown posted a 76% visitation rate in March and 78% in April, a sharp jump from 65% in February. Midtown South visitations rose slightly from 75% in March to 76% in April, while Downtown spiked from 54% to 66% February to March and held the same rate in April--the submarket’s highest rate in at least six months.

“Over the last two months, Manhattan’s office market has posted its strongest activity since last Fall,” said Keith DeCoster, director of Market Data and Policy at the Real Estate Board of New York. “As demonstrated by these reports, we are seeing office activity in Manhattan incrementally edge closer and closer to pre-pandemic levels, led by visitation in the highest quality properties.” 

The buildings analyzed in these reports include a representative sample of various types of office buildings. Buildings that were not completed by 2019 are not factored in this report or 2023 average visitation rates.

The report analyzes mobile data provided by Placer.ai from geo-fenced buildings, including multiple phones carried by individual visitors. This has no impact on building visitation rates, as the same possibility of individuals carrying multiple phones exists in 2023 and the 2019 baseline. 

Findings in these reports include visitation data with a minimum dwell time of 7 minutes. In turn, data may include some visitors other than office employees such as building maintenance staff; visitors attending company meetings as well as visitors to retail at the base of an office building. This visitation rate captures the broader economic impact and use of office buildings.