NEW YORK CITY-From the Flatiron District to Midtown West, a recent flurry of office leasing is a testament to the diversity—and value—of the area’s existing building stock, says owner/manager ABS Partners Real Estate LLC. Over the last several weeks, the firm has brought the 180,000-square-foot office building at 20 W. 22^nd St. and the 17-story office at 29 W. 38^th St. to nearly 100% occupancy, a sign that creative and high-tech tenants are still finding space in the tight Midtown South submarket.

“We had a tough time in the beginning, but people rented and rented and the area got hotter and hotter,” says John L. Gols, executive managing director at ABS Partners, who tells GlobeSt.com that the firm acquired 20 W. 22^nd St. in the early 2000s and repositioned it in order to attract new companies. “It was always a great location because it is right off Fifth Avenue,” he says, noting that the renovations included a new lobby, elevators, windows, bathrooms, floors and lighting. “It just took off.”

New deals here include a 3,634-square-foot lease for digital media firm Martini Media; a 1,349-square-foot lease for advertising agency Air Paris New York, Inc.; a 1,158-square-foot lease for TSS Transportation Systems Inc; 2,407 square feet for mobile Internet company Bango; a 2,131 square-foot lease for music firm Jingle Punks; and Startracks Photo Inc. inking a deal for 1,252 square feet. The companies join existing tenants such as Real Estate Weekly, Platt Byard Dovell White, LLP, Calument Photographic Inc. and Broadsheet Productions LLC.