Manhattan’s office market is suddenly looking a lot less sleepy. After a standout spring, fresh numbers suggest the borough could be on track for its busiest leasing year in more than two decades, powered by a blockbuster law firm shuffle and a cluster of Google-linked moves that have landlords smiling again.
Colliers Data Shows the Surge
Monthly snapshots from Colliers show Manhattan racking up about 3.61 million square feet of office leasing in April, with 11.78 million square feet signed in the first quarter, according to the firm’s Q1 office report. The releases indicate availability has tightened into the mid-teens while average asking rents are pushing toward the high $70s per square foot, clear signs that top-tier buildings are again commanding a premium. Put together, the figures are fueling industry chatter that Manhattan is pacing toward a very strong 2026.
Big Deals Are Back
The spring’s headline transactions centered on a reported 475,000-square-foot move by Cleary Gottlieb to One Liberty Plaza, which led downtown activity in April. Other large professional services renewals and relocations, including a roughly 362,000-square-foot recommitment by Gibson Dunn uptown, have kept leasing totals elevated and boosted demand for upgraded space. The Cleary Gottlieb deal was reported by The Real Deal, while broader market roundups from Bisnow captured the Gibson Dunn renewal.
Google’s Reshuffle Is Worth Watching
Tech is also reshaping the map. Google has been marketing about 165,000 square feet at 345 Hudson Street for sublease as it consolidates around St. John’s Terminal, a shift that brokers and market trackers say is material to Midtown South’s leasing dynamics. Those Google-linked subleases and subsequent relets helped stir activity in the neighborhood, where AI and other tech tenants have been especially busy. Commercial Observer reported on the 345 Hudson offering and related campus changes in Hudson Square.
What This Means for Rents and Vacancy
Industry watchers are quick to note that the headline pace is concentrated in a relatively small group of big-ticket deals, so the strength looks selective rather than broadly spread across the market. As Franklin Wallach told The Real Deal, “To achieve another year of 15 million square feet of positive absorption is a difficult benchmark,” highlighting how much of the year-to-date activity depends on a few outsized transactions. At the same time, space removals for conversions and a shrinking sublet inventory are tightening supply, which helps explain the upward pressure on asking rents…