Midtown availability dropped another 40 basis points in the fourth quarter to 10.8%. After a lackluster 2012, Midtown bounced back with a 100 basis point drop over the past 12 months. Large leases played a major role in Midtown's success in 2013, as 15 leases over

100,000 square feet were signed in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for 2013 up to 35.

Two new buildings were added to the area's inventory with the completion of 250 W. 55th St., a 1.05 million-square-foot office building, and 55 W.46th St., a 292,000-square-foot office section of the International Gem Tower. At $80.03 per square foot, Midtown Class A average asking rents finished 2013 strong, surpassing $80.00 for the first time in five years.

Meanwhile, Midtown South availability finally dipped in December after increasing for five consecutive months. It had bottomed out at 8.2% in June. At 8.8%, the availability rate is down 20 basis points from 2012 and is still the lowest of the three major Manhattan markets. Absorption was a positive 506,928 square feet in 2013, but significantly lower than the 1.9 million square feet of positive absorption averaged each year from 2010 through 2012.

At $72.79 per square foot, Midtown South Class A asking rents are down $2.23 from the third quarter; this is not because the market is softening, but based on the most expensive space in the market at 51 Astor Place being leased, Cassidy Turley reports.

By mid-year 2013, Downtown availability reached 14.6% but demand picked up and by the end of the year the availability rate dropped to 12.9%. The addition of 4 World Trade Center did not hurt the momentum of the market as the 2.85 million-square-foot building was two-thirds pre-leased when it came to the market. The announcement that Group M Worldwide leased 515,457 square feet at 3 World Trade Center will help create more buzz around the growth of Lower Manhattan. Class A asking rents jumped $2.75 per square foot to $55.31 in the fourth quarter.