Data-Driven Insights for NYC Office Tenants: What the Quarter Means for Your Lease
For an NYC office tenant with a renewal or a move about a year away, the current figures say this: there is less space to choose from than a year ago, landlords are conceding less off the asking rent, and sublease bargains are thinner. In the Q2 2026 edition of our report, with data through June 30, 2026, availability was 14.5%, the taking-rent index was near 94.8% and sublease inventory was under 11 million square feet. None of that removes a tenant's leverage. It moves it: away from the market and toward time, real alternatives and a wider search.
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Send me the SoHo floorsUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
Availability: 14.5%, down from 17.6%
The figure: Manhattan availability was 14.5% when the quarter closed, against 17.6% twelve months before. By submarket, SoHo was 13.5%, Midtown South 17.1% and Hudson Square 17.8%, the last a first-quarter reading. All are in the Q2 2026 report.
What it means: more availability is more room to negotiate, so your leverage depends on where you are looking. A tenant renewing in a tight submarket faces a landlord who can replace it more easily than a year ago. That tenant, once willing to consider a submarket with availability near 17%, has more floors to set against the renewal.
The taking-rent index: near 94.8%, up from 92.5%
The figure: signed rents came in at about 94.8% of asking rents, where a year before they came in at 92.5%, per the same edition.
What it means: less comes off the asking rent than it did. The index does not measure free rent or the improvement allowance, and that is where concessions still sit. On a renewal, that points the negotiation at a refresh allowance and free months more than at the face rent.
Sublease inventory: under 11 million square feet
The figure: sublease space on the market fell under 11 million square feet, from a peak of 23 million, in the report's count.
What it means: fewer discount options. A sublease was the cheap way to move or to bridge a gap, and there is now much less of it. A tenant counting on one as the alternative to renewing should check that it exists at the right size before relying on it.
What a tenant a year from expiry does with this
- Start now. Twelve to eighteen months before expiry is the window in which a real alternative search fits. Inside six months, the leverage runs the other way.
- Hold real alternatives. Tour floors you would actually move to, and get a written proposal on one. A landlord weighs your renewal differently once it can see where you would go.
- Consider widening the search. A second submarket with higher availability gives you choices the first may not.
Leverage comes from time and options, and both are in your hands. Renew or relocate sets the two paths side by side.
Why the block shows SoHo
SoHo is the tightest submarket in the report, so it is the clearest case of the first figure. The block below shows the SoHo floors on our book and what each asks. It is a sample from a single neighborhood, not the market reading itself.
SoHo office space available now
Live from our listings · 6 of the 9, cheapest first9 offices are available in SoHo right now, from 3,750 to 27,344 square feet, asking $68 to $125 per square foot per year. The SoHo median is $98.
- Floors
- 9
- Sizes
- 3,750-27,344 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $68-$125 / sq ft
- Median
- $98 / sq ft
- One Soho Square, Partial 2nd Floor 27,344 sq ft $68/sq ft about 156 people
- 540 Broadway, Entire 2nd Floor 6,350 sq ft $85/sq ft about 36 people
- 110 Greene Street, Partial 5th Floor 3,750 sq ft $95/sq ft about 21 people
- 104-110 Greene Street, Partial 11th Floor 5,375 sq ft $110/sq ft about 31 people
- 60 Charlton Street, Partial 8th Floor 5,003 sq ft $120/sq ft about 29 people
- 503-511 Broadway, Penthouse 5,552 sq ft $125/sq ft about 32 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Market Analysis for an NYC Office Lease: Five Steps, in Order
- Market Analysis for a Startup's Office Lease: The Tenant's Version, Not the Investor's
- Commercial Real Estate Market Analysis: The Open Data Behind a Nomad Search
- A Market Analysis Template for Comparing Office Lease Offers on One Page
Does a renewing tenant have less leverage than a year ago?
Less from the market, as much as ever from preparation. Availability fell and landlords discounted less in the Q2 2026 figures. A tenant who starts early and holds a real alternative can still ask for free months and a refresh allowance, because replacing a tenant costs a landlord vacancy, work and commissions.
Which edition are these figures from?
The Q2 2026 edition of the Manhattan Office Report, published in July 2026 with data through June 30, 2026. Its submarket detail draws on first-quarter tables. Once a new edition is out, read the figures here against it.
Our lease ends in about a year. Is it too late to use the market?
No, but it is time to begin. A year allows a search, tours, a letter of intent on an alternative and a renewal negotiation run in parallel. Each month of delay removes an option, and a holdover removes all of them.
Do these numbers say which neighborhood is best for tenants?
No, and we do not rank one. A tight submarket and an open one suit different companies. The numbers tell you where you will have more floors to choose from, which is one input beside commute, building type and budget.
Talk to a broker
Want this answered for your team?
Tell us three things: team size, timing, budget. A first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours, with the asking rent on every floor that publishes one.
- Within the houra broker reaches out during business hours, no automated triage
- On your sidewe work for you on your search, and the landlord usually pays our fee
- Open pricingasking rent published for 46 of 49 floors, size and address for all
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