Downtown turnaround well under way.The Alliance for Downtown New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of announced that relocating businesses, companies retaining space previously earmarked for sublease sublease n. the lease of all or a portion of premises by a tenant who has leased the premises from the owner. A sublease may be prohibited by the original lease, or require written permission from the owner. and new leasing activity in the second quarter of 2006 helped strengthen Lower Manhattan's office market and position it for further growth in the coming months. Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York. Lower Manhattan is generally defined as the area delineated on the north by Chambers Street, on the west by the Hudson River (North continues to lure new companies to the area, with approximately 1.5 million square feet in leases signed by businesses moving Downtown from Midtown, Midtown South and other locations around the New York metropolitan area New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island is the most populous metropolitan area in the United States and the third most populous in the world, after Tokyo and Mexico City. over the past year and a half. This includes Empire Blue Cross' 52,600 square-foot deal at One Liberty Plaza One Liberty Plaza is a skyscraper in lower Manhattan, New York, which resides at the location of the former Singer Building (in 1968, the second tallest building to be demolished). One Liberty Plaza is currently owned and operated by Brookfield Properties. and BearingPoint's 53,611-square-foot deal at Three World Financial Center, which will house 633 BearingPoint employees. Downtown vacancy rates have also fallen in part due to firms taking space off the market to use it for their own purposes. More than 1.2 million square feet of space has been withdrawn from the market by JP Morgan Chase, General Electric, Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. , Guardian Life Insurance, TD Waterhouse and others since the beginning of 2006, according to data complied by CB Richard Ellis CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. NYSE: CBG is a multinational real estate corporation currently based in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. On December 20, 2006, the corporation, also known as CBRE, completed acquisition of Trammell Crow Co. in a transaction valued at $2. . "Lower Manhattan continues to be the location of choice for a diverse mix of large and small companies, and the forecast for the Downtown office market in the coming months is very encouraging," said Eric Deutsch, president of the Downtown Alliance. "We should see well over 1 million square feet in leases signed, just counting the anticipated deals by Moody's, Aon and the Custom House, and we expect substantial new leasing activity as more companies recognize the value and benefits of Lower Manhattan." Businesses signed leases for 590,929 s/f of office space in the second quarter of 2006, according to data compiled by Cushman & Wakefield Inc. Companies signing leases downtown included industry leaders LaBranche & Company, a stock trading firm that leased 48,000 s/f and agreed to keep 511 jobs in Lower Manhattan for at least 10 years; Reliance Insurance, 47,609 s/f; Jane Street Capital, 35,765 s/f; American Stock Exchange American Stock Exchange (AMEX) Stock exchange in the U.S. Originally known as “the Curb,” it began as an outdoor marketplace in New York City c. 1850. It moved indoors to its present location in the Wall Street area in 1921. , 26,129 s/f; American Express, 14,622 s/f; Bank of Japan, 12,778 s/ft; and the Junior League, square feet 10,525 s/f.. While leasing activity experienced a modest drop compared to the first quarter of the year, falling vacancy rates and rising rents demonstrate the ongoing vitality of the Downtown office market. Overall, vacancy rates for office space in Lower Manhattan dropped to 11.2% at midyear 2006 from 11.6% in the first quarter; and rents increased slightly, rising to $35.18 per square foot from $34.97 per square foot in the same time period. Big-name retailers are also continuing their push into Lower Manhattan. Tiffany & Co. plans to open its second shop in New York around the corner from the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. at 37 Wall Street. The 7,600 s/f store, which will be the building's exclusive retailer, is scheduled to open in fall 2007 and marks the return of the company to the neighborhood where it was founded more than 135 years ago. Tiffany & Co. joins other mid-and high-end retailers who have new locations in Lower Manhattan, including BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. , Hickey Freeman, Sephora, and the World of Golf. Over the past year, a number of high-end restaurants have opened, raising the profile of Downtown's culinary scene. Whole Foods Market, the world's leading natural and organic supermarket, has signed a lease to bring a 55,000-square-foot grocery store to Lower Manhattan by spring 2007. |
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