# Manhattan office market rebounds

> Manhattan office leasing hits record demand as finance and tech firms drive recovery.
- Title: Manhattan office market rebounds · The Real Deal | Shortify
- Summary: Manhattan office leasing hits record demand as finance and tech firms drive recovery.
- Keywords: manhattan office market, leasing, finance firms, tech firms, rents, pre-pandemic levels, office space, new construction, real estate, The Real Deal
- Source: The Real Deal — https://therealdeal.com/national/2026/11/08/manhattans-office-comeback
- Author: Mike Romano
- Published: 2026-11-08T14:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: manhattan office market, leasing, finance firms, tech firms, rents, pre-pandemic levels, office space, new construction, real estate, business
## Manhattan office market rebound
Manhattan’s office market is approaching a historic year with leasing on pace for its strongest performance since 2000.
## Rent levels return to pre-pandemic
October brought average asking rent reaching nearly $80 per square foot, matching March 2020 levels.
## Leasing activity surges
Tenants leased about 4.5 million square feet in October, a more than 50 percent jump from September.
## Year-to-date leasing targets
Year-to-date leasing topped 37 million square feet, putting the market on track for roughly 44 million square feet by year-end.
## Record market activity
That would make the 2026 market the busiest in 26 years, when leasing hit 50 million square feet.
## Finance firms drive demand
Wall Street profits reached nearly $46 billion in the first half of the year, while law firms have accounted for some of the market’s biggest commitments.
## Legal deals dominate
Simpson Thacher’s 916,000-square-foot lease at 570 Fifth Avenue was the year’s largest, and October brought another sizable batch of legal deals.
## Tech firms add demand
AI firms leased more than 1 million square feet in the third quarter, a record, with nearly all of it in Midtown South.
## Scarcity of new buildings
Manhattan hasn’t seen a major new office building open since One Vanderbilt in 2021, outside of JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters.
## Office-to-residential conversions
Thirteen major Manhattan projects alone are expected to turn more than 7 million square feet of office space into over 11,000 apartments.
## Record rents for trophy buildings
Castle Hook Partners agreed to pay as much as $21.2 million annually for a 53,000-square-foot penthouse at Related’s 625 Madison Avenue.
## Key takeaway

Manhattan office market rebounds with record leasing activity, finance and tech firms driving demand while scarcity of new buildings pushes rents to pre-pandemic levels.