Adds Lenny Beaudoin, senior managing director of workplace strategy at CBRE, “Following the recent financial crisis, we appear to be at an inflection point where top-line performance, speed and employee workplace satisfaction, rather than bottom-line cost reduction, are the goals of business.”

In the past, he told GlobeSt.com, “About 50% to 60% of office space was dedicated to individual offices or cubicles, 15 to 20% was “support space,” (such as for kitchens and other amenities) and the remaining space was devoted to hallways and other “in between space.”

Now, Beaudoin stated, the ratio is more like 40% for individual areas and 30% each for the remaining two space types. However, companies are applying the savings realized by shrinking the square footage allocated per employee toward enhancing shared spaces, creating new work areas—such as coffeehouse or hotel-like settings—as well as new amenities.

“Tenants signing 10-year leases now are going to be looking to recruit people who are in the eighth grade today,” he noted. “The expectations of workers like that around technology are very different.”

No doubt aware of this need, companies are moving to improved digs. Through mid-year 2014, Midtown's leasing activity jumped to 8.63 million square feet from 7.37 million square feet; Midtown South increased to 3.41 million square feet from 2.10 million square feet, and Downtown rose to 3.52 million square feet from 2.46 million square feet.

Year-to-date absorption and average asking rents also rose during the first half of 2014. In Midtown, absorption moved into positive territory, at 447,000 square feet, a stark contrast to the negative 1.15 million square feet of absorption through the first half of 2013. Asking rents in Midtown increased 6% over the last 12 months, the largest percentage increase of the three Manhattan markets.

In Midtown South, net absorption fell into negative territory at 27,000 square feet but remained well ahead of the negative one million square feet measured through the first six months of last year.

Strong second-quarter activity Downtown cancelled out negative absorption during the first quarter when new inventory, such as 1 World Trade Center, came online. Average asking rent finished at $49.04 per square feet, compared to $48.70 per square feet in the first quarter and up 4% year-over-year.

Said Turchin, “The second quarter is the first quarter since 2000 in which all major indicators in Midtown, Midtown South and Downtown improved year-over-year. Although there has long been an impression that the Manhattan office market is a zero sum game market, that's not true today.”