September Manhattan Market Report by Cassidy Turley Shows Some Spark

Cassidy Turley, a leading commercial real estate services provider in the U.S., today released the September monthly report, which showed positive activity in Manhattan's three major submarkets. The most significant figure was the 1.7% jump in asking rents, which rose to $55.90 per s/f, the highest since February 2009. The overall vacancy rate held steady for the second straight month at 10.3% with minimal monthly positive absorption of just under 28,000 s/f. However, Midtown saw large blocks of product come back on the market including 666 Fifth Ave. as well as two other properties in the Plaza District. As a result, these factors pushed the Midtown class A vacancy rate to 10.9%, its highest since May 2011. The report found Midtown South continued to perform well and vacancy rates continued to slide to 8.1 percent. All three office classes saw increases in asking rents, driving the overall figure up 2.7% for the month to $47.69 per s/f. The big news for Downtown is that the class A vacancy rate declined for the second straight month, closing August at 8.4 percent, its lowest figure since January. Meanwhile, class A asking rents were only up minimally. "Despite a rise in asking rents, some companies are still postponing real estate decisions that don't need to be made today," said Peter Hennessy President, Tri-State New York Region, Cassidy Turley. "Understanding what influences the positive and negative changes in the commercial real estate market, enables Cassidy Turley to provide superior service to our clients." About Cassidy Turley Cassidy Turley is a leading commercial real estate services provider with more than 3,600 professionals in more than 60 offices nationwide. The company represents a wide range of clients—from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, from local non-profits to major institutions. The firm completed transactions valued at $22 billion in 2011, manages 455 million square feet on behalf of institutional, corporate and private clients and supports more than 28,000 domestic corporate services locations. Cassidy Turley serves owners, investors and tenants with a full spectrum of integrated commercial real estate services—including capital markets, tenant representation, corporate services, project leasing, property management, project and development services, and research and consulting. Cassidy Turley enhances its global service delivery outside of North America through a partnership with GVA, giving clients access to commercial real estate professionals in 65 international markets. Please visit www.cassidyturley.com for more information about Cassidy Turley.