Despite 9/11 Fears, Tower Deals Drive Prices

NEW YORK CITY-According to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle regarding tower trends, despite the widely speculated corporate fear factor of leasing tower floors after 9/11, the numbers show something entirely different. Demand for high-quality space has driven record pricing across Manhattan, particularly for prestigious space at the 30th floor and higher. The report discusses the significant premium that tower floors command–based on analysis of more than 2,500 transactions–and reveals that since 2004, taking rents on tower floors average 26% higher than market.

James Delmonte, VP and director of research at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com that directly after 9/11 there was a slowdown for tower leasing. “When we first started looking at the data and going through the numbers roughly two months ago for this report, although we knew there would be a premium,” he explains, “we were surprised at how high it actually was.”

CB Richard Ellis’ research numbers also show that the demand is there. The company tells GlobeSt.com that the average asking rent in midtown is $81.34 per sf. As far as Midtown tower floors rents go: rent for the 32nd and 33rd floor at 1095 Avenue of the Americas goes for $150 per sf; the 47th floor at 1 Bryant Park fetches $185; and 745 Fifth Ave. gets $160 for the 30th floor. For Downtown, the average asking rent is $46.37 per sf; however, 32 Old Slip fetches $75 per sf for the 34th through 36th floor and 17 State St. gets $75 per sf. According to Silverstein Properties website, 7 World Trade Center’s rate per sf for the 46th through 50th floor is $75 per sf.