Sublease Availability Ticks Upward

NEW YORK CITY-Sublease space in Manhattan reached 12 million square feet at the end of 2008 and is expected to keep growing, according to newly issued market reports. One of those reports, from Jones Lang LaSalle, says four million square feet was added to the sublease supply over the past 18 months, a rise of 50%.

The February market snapshot from Colliers ABR says that class A sublet availability increased by approximately 500,000 square feet during the month, closing February at 9.5 million square feet, the highest level in nearly five years. Class B sublease space jumped 118% in a year, according to Colliers.

“While layoffs were announced throughout 2008, sublease options did not begin coming to the market until the latter part of the year,” says James Delmonte, VP and director of research with JLL’s New York office, in a release. “We anticipate Manhattan will see rising levels of sublease space into at least midyear 2009.”