The Bloomberg pre-leasing did not have any affect on absorption, however, which fell to negative 1.2 million sf.

Another notable signing was the 238,000 sf sublease by J.P. Morgan Chase at 1166 Sixth Avenue, but despite that, by the end of the month the Midtown availability rate had increased by 6.1%. Average asking rents rose slightly to $60.85.

Downtown, 290,000 sf were leased during May, including the 123,000 sf at 7 World Trade Center taken by Hartford Fire Insurance, while the area experienced 400,000 sf of negative net absorption. At 77 Water St. Reliance National Insurance accounted for 63,800 sf of the space returned to market. Average asking rents were down a bit to $43.70 per sf, but they were still over $6 per sf higher than in May 2000.