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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
November ended as a solid month for Manhattan’s office market, thanks to a large new lease from WeWork on behalf of Amazon. As reported by Crain’s NY, activity in Manhattan’s office deals still did not meet the blockbuster level reached in October. WeWork signed a large lease for roughly 304,000-square-feet of space at Vornado’s 330 W. 34th St. in November, as per the latest monthly report on the market from Colliers.
The leased space will be used by WeWork’s client Amazon, which will occupy all of the space, per a spokesman for the coworking firm. It is not immediately known why Amazon did not just sign the lease on its own, but lease negotiations are one of the services WeWork provides to its enterprise clients, WeWork said. The office-sharing giant, which has been through so much turmoil in the past few years, infamously filing for bankruptcy protection in late 2023, emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year and named John Santora, former Cushman & Wakefield chairman, as the new CEO.
A representative for Vornado declined to comment on the lease, and a representative for Amazon also didn’t immediately respond to Crain’s request for comment.
Vornado’s Class A 18-story office building at 330 W 34th St, boasts a total of 682,000 square feet. First opened in 1926, the building has undergone extensive renovations, in line with the nearby recently opened Moynihan Train Hall. The building, which features a modernized lobby, coveted ground floor amenities center and social spaces including a large outdoor patio, is the recipient of the BOMA/NY 2015-16 Pinnacle Award for best renovated building.
Per Crain’s, in all, in November, companies leased approximately 3.4 million square feet of office space in Manhattan, down 12.4% compared to October, but up significantly compared to the same time last year. This WeWork lease was the third-largest deal for the month. The biggest deal for November was law firm Ropes & Gray taking on 430,000 square feet at RXR’s 1.8-million-square-foot tower at 1285 Sixth Ave. The second biggest deal was Apple expanding to about 400,000 square feet at Vornado’s historic 26-story Penn 11. Demand for office space in 2024 is on track to be the strongest since 2019, before the pandemic hit. Manhattan’s commercial availability rate tightened modestly, to 16.7%, and the average asking rent was $74.15 per square foot, up month over month but down marginally compared to last year.
Midtown led the way with companies leasing close to 2 million square feet, down month over month but up compared to last year. Aside from the Ropes & Gray deal, other large leases included consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal taking on about 220,000 square feet at 100 Park Ave, and law firm Winston & Strawn renewing roughly 240,000 square feet of space at 200 Park Ave. Midtown’s availability rate and average asking rent both stayed mostly stable at 15.5% and $79.06 per square foot, respectively. With just one month left to the year, 2024 remains on pace to be Midtown’s busiest since 2018, per the monthly report by Colliers.
Per Crain’s, in Midtown South firms leased about 1.3 million square feet of space, down a bit compared to October’s impressive levels, but up more than 75% compared
