Manhattan Office Vacancies Soar to a Record With Leasing Frozen

Office vacancies in Manhattan jumped to a 21st century record as the Covid-19 pandemic froze new rental deals and sublease openings soared.

Last year ended with a 15.1% vacancy rate, up from 11.1% in 2019 and the highest in data going back to 1999, according to a report by Savills, a commercial-property services firm. That left 68.4 million square feet (6.4 million square meters) empty, including 18.6 million square feet of sublease space listed by current tenants looking to downsize.