Despite the fact that the other boroughs only hold 67 million square feet of office space, they saw some huge losses with Downtown Brooklyn suffering the worst as it watched JP Morgan and NYSE Euronext move out of 739,000 square feet of space.

In 2010 the net absorption was 5.3 million square feet compared to 2009 when it was -11 million and all of Manhattan’s office markets saw increased leasing activity. Midtown was the biggest benefactor with 10 straight months of positive absorption bringing its year end total to 5.8 million square feet compared to -6.6 million one year ago.

Downtown continues to be the sore spot but over the last two months, it has posted a positive absorption of 550,000 square feet despite posting a negative total for the year.

Sublease space is often 20 to 40 percent less than the cost of renting from the building’s landlord and the increase in sublease opportunities helped to put additional downward pressure on rents. Over the last year and a half, bargain hunters have snatched up 6 million square feet of space leaving the market with around 11 million square feet of sublease space which is actually below the 10-year average of 12.8 million.

The decline in space allows landlords to be more aggressive with rates since they are no longer competing with a high level of supply and the fact that businesses have already taken some of the better sublease opportunities in Manhattan.

Q1 will be interesting. Stay tuned.

The 16,000 square foot space will provide an environment for startups and coworkers to meet, create and work. The center will be outfitted with stylish furniture, conference rooms, lockers and a kitchen. So its already attracted a presence from a number of startups in the art and fashion industry and can also host events like launch parties.

Places like General Assembly in Union Square are becoming common throughout the United States as individuals and small companies look for alternatives to the traditionally high overhead incurred when renting office space. Coworking and other movements aim to provide a work environment that includes networking and communal projects.

Pretty cool stuff in my opinion. Visit generalassemb.ly to get updates.

The article quoted sources who were predicting rent increases of up to 10 percent in 2011 which is why companies need to start looking at space before they miss out on the lowest rates. 10 percent seems a little bit generous, I don’t want to be pessimistic but the market is continuing to bounce along the bottom and honestly I don’t think we’ll have a good idea of how high rents could increase until at least the first quarter of 2011.

I wouldn’t recommend that any company continue to wait before starting its search because there are a number of great deals already out there. Additionally many landlords are giving great concessions like free rent, phase-in rates and high TI allowances which make many of these deals even better.

Its not like the condition of the market is a closely guarded secret. If you’re waiting for rates to decline another 5-10 percent, you might be waiting for a long time because I think for the first time in a long time, there is a sense of urgency to acquire space whereas 2009 and most of 2010 was spent waiting on the sidelines to see how far prices would fall.

According to the article, the SEC was in dire need of space following the September 11 attacks when their New York office was destroyed. They moved quickly to lease space in the Woolworth Building but after the discovery of asbestos some years later, the agency was forced to relocate and thought the new landlord would assume the remaining obligation on their lease.

However the landlord did not and subsequently, the SEC has been paying rent on two locations for the past few years. Now I’m not fully aware of the entire situation but its obvious that this dispute could have been resolved if both sides had taken the time to iron out the specifics of assuming an obligation.

Asking a landlord to assume an existing obligation during the leasing process is a very complicated and divisive issue and its imperative that the tenant have an advisor that can make sure that if a landlord is willing to assume all or some of the remaining rent, that they have negotiated any such agreement in the correct manner.

I don’t want to lay the blame on either side because as I stated earlier, I am not familiar with the agreements or context with which the deal was conceived but as an advisor I would have made sure that if the landlord had promised to assume the remaining rent that the agreement would properly reflect their commitment.

As previously reported in September, the 2.9 million square foot building was put up for sale and it appears that Google, one of their largest tenants will acquire the 79-year-old property which is one of the largest in Manhattan by square footage.

In addition to Google, the building houses a number of other tenants including media companies, banks and other network / data companies. The building takes up a whole city block between 15th and 16th streets in Chelsea.

Sure a lot of the big media companies are still in Midtown and won’t be moving anytime soon (Reuters, News Corp, NYT) but with Conde Nast, Newsweek and others heading Downtown, you have to wonder whether we are seeing a shift back to Lower Manhattan which at the turn of the century was the original publishing hub of Manhattan.

Full Article

His offices are separate from those of his foundation (despite both being located in the same building) because Clinton’s foundation pays for its space while his executive offices are covered by taxpayers under the Former Presidents Act. The size of Clinton’s offices put him between each Bush as George W. Bush has the largest space at more than 15,000 square feet and George H.W. Bush has the third-largest at 8,709.

One item that has been discussed recently is the construction of the new Trade Center Towers. The new buildings will add an estimated 4.4 million square feet of space and many observers worry about more space in a market that already has a vacancy rate above 12 percent. Granted WTC1 is still at least two years from completion but the Durst Organization, tasked with leasing the property, has already decided to keep the top two floors off the market for an additional two years until market conditions improve.

Developers are banking on the fact that most office space in Manhattan is more than 60 years old. While older buildings can be renovated and retrofitted (ESB for example), they may not meet the needs of new technologies and may not be as efficient. They hope that new space at the WTC will be a big selling point for prospective tenants since new construction has become a rarity.