Published July 2026 · data through Jun 30, 2026
Q2 2026 in review · Manhattan office
Q2 Market Report
in review.
A demand-led quarter. AI and growth-tech tenants pulled premium space off the board faster than landlords could re-list it, the sublease overhang kept shrinking, and Midtown South and Hudson Square hardened into the city's tech core.
Executive summary
AI-led demand defines Q2 leasing
Manhattan leased 10.8 million square feet in the second quarter, one of its strongest quarters in years, and overall availability settled at 14.5%, down from 17.6% a year earlier. Average asking rent held near $80 a foot.
Technology led the demand. Sublease inventory kept falling, now under 11 million square feet, as landlords pulled blocks back to hold for direct deals rather than cut sublease bargains. In plain terms, the discount tenants keep waiting for is not showing up.
The borough's tech and media requirements reached 8.8 million square feet, with 22.1% of that coming from AI firms alone, the clearest read on where the market's momentum now sits.
The venture-backed cohort is the through-line. From Series A through D, growth-stage tenants are signing full floors and multi-floor blocks, and their rents sort by building quality more than by neighborhood alone. AI and tech tenants have signed 21 deals for 719,200 square feet so far in 2026, close to 70% of it in Midtown South.
The names in the sections that follow, and the neighborhoods they chose, show where that demand is concentrating: Midtown South, the Broadway loft corridor, and Hudson Square. A taking-rent index near 94.8%, up from 92.5% a year earlier, means landlords are holding closer to ask.
Market pulse · availability by submarket
Where the space actually is
Read the submarkets against each other. SoHo runs tight on direct space, the borough sits in the mid-teens, and Midtown South and Hudson Square carry the higher availability. For a growing tenant that is not a weakness, it is where the large contiguous blocks and the room to negotiate both still exist.
These readings come from the latest submarket tables and are not perfectly comparable across research desks. The borough sat near 14.5% at the most recent month-end, SoHo tighter at 13.5% on scarce direct space, and Midtown South and Hudson Square higher near 17%, which is exactly where the large tech blocks still sit. Bars scaled to a 20% axis.
The quarter in numbers
Hudson Square's higher availability is by design, not weakness. Much of its supply sits in the Norges Bank and Hines Hudson Square portfolio, whose assets are built and held for larger-block tenants in the 40,000 to 400,000 square foot range. Even so, asking rents keep climbing, and minimum lease terms sit comfortably at seven years on the low end.
The quarter's nine largest leases
From AI hype to office commitments
The nine largest signed leases of Q2, ranked by square footage. Law firms took the biggest blocks, but the highlighted cards tell the real story: AI, legal-AI, healthcare-tech, and fintech are now signing at scale, from the Broadway loft corridor to One World Trade Center. The takeaway for a growing tenant is simple: the space you want is the space they want, so the good blocks clear fast.
Also on the board in Q2: Adaptive Security subleased 51,000 SF at 120 Broadway, Synthesia took 50,000 SF in the Flatiron, Apollo Global Management 50,000 SF at 590 Madison, Robin Hood 53,000 SF at 841 Broadway, and Steve Madden 60,000 SF at 501 Seventh Avenue. The highlighted cards mark the AI, legal-AI, healthcare-tech, and fintech deals closest to our tenant base, and note how many now sit Downtown.
Spotlight 01 · SoHo & Hudson Square
SoHo & Hudson Square
17.8%Hudson Square total availability · room for the large blocks others have run out of
The headline: Hudson Square is where the big tech tenants go when they need room to grow. It has become Midtown South's premium overflow market, the place where tenants who cannot find large contiguous blocks elsewhere can still execute at scale. It carries more inventory than SoHo, about 10.7 million square feet against 6.5 million, and it commands a premium for building quality, with a tech ecosystem now anchored by PayPal, Google, Notion, Tennr, and, as of this quarter, Anthropic. Nomad has closed here too. SoHo, tighter and pricier per foot, is the brand-first boutique: prestigious and expensive, but rarely built for the 100,000-plus square-foot blocks the AI cohort now generates.
Asking-rent ladder
Hudson Square average asking runs about $90.50 to $99.79/SF, up roughly 17% over three years from about $77/SF in early 2023. SoHo averages about $89.15/SF on a tighter, more fragmented base near 12% direct availability. Hudson Square's higher total availability, near 17.8%, is what still lets a large tenant find scale. Tier figures should be confirmed on a specific building.
- Use
- Lab / R&D
- Size
- 13,000 SF
- Rent
- $135 / SF
A Nomad-completed lease for a well-funded, still-stealth tenant, in the exact submarket this report covers. We are transacting where the tech demand is.
Ask Nick and Billy about the building and the deal →Signed July 8, 2026. Anthropic took the entire building, one of the largest AI office commitments in the city and a stamp on Hudson Square as Manhattan's AI campus. It roughly doubles Anthropic's New York footprint, with room for about 1,700 people, as Deloitte, the Financial Times and Anomaly phase out. A done deal.
Spotlight 02 · the indigo mile
Unicorn Lane
2.5M SFNomad-owned real estate along Unicorn Lane
The headline: if you are an early-stage tech team, this is your street. Unicorn Lane is not a single avenue. It runs up Broadway from 10th Street to 34th Street, between Park Avenue South and Seventh Avenue, and it is the densest stretch of early-stage tech in the city. Close to 70% of Manhattan's AI deals this year landed in this Midtown South orbit. Prewar lofts, flexible floors, and a wall-to-wall peer ecosystem are exactly what a Series A to B team wants when it needs room to double without hopping buildings every year.
Asking-rent ladder
The corridor's ladder has stretched. Class C prewar loft is reaching $65/SF, Class B up to about $100/SF (119 Fifth Avenue, 37 East 18th Street), and the best Class A trophy up to $170/SF (11 East 26th Street). Confirm on a specific suite.
- Floor
- Entire 4th
- Fit
- 40 to 50 desks
- Asking
- $60,000 / mo
- Status
- Available
Direct elevator access and a wraparound layout, in the heart of the corridor.
Ask about this off-market floor →Nomad owns 2.5 million square feet of real estate along Unicorn Lane, exactly where early-stage tech is landing.
See what is on the book →Spotlight 03 · Bryant Park
Bryant Park
$165Asking rent per SF, 10 Bryant Park, Baker McKenzie deal · May 2026
The headline: this is the trophy ceiling every other submarket is measured against. Bryant Park is the trophy end of Midtown, and the quarter proved it. Baker McKenzie renewed and expanded to 122,000 square feet at 10 Bryant Park at a $165 asking rent, the kind of number that only clears in the tightest, most amenitized product. One block over, One Bryant Park absorbed Bank of America's 2.4 million square foot expansion earlier in the year, the second largest Manhattan lease of the century. This is not startup territory on price, but it sets the ceiling every other submarket is measured against.
Asking-rent ladder
Trophy asking of $165/SF is the quoted rate on the 10 Bryant Park deal (May 2026), not a submarket average. Prime Bryant Park and Sixth Avenue Class A generally runs about $85 to $100/SF, with older stock lower. Confirm on a specific suite.
- Trade
- $160M
- Plan
- ~800,000 SF ground-up
- Rises
- 41 stories
Nomad represented 346 Madison and 11 East 44th before SL Green acquired the pair to build 44+Madison, a 643-foot tower under the Midtown East rezoning. We know this block from the inside.
Ask about trophy Midtown space →The trophy ceiling keeps rising: a lease at 9 West 57th Street averaging $327.50 a foot is thought to be the highest office rent ever signed in the city, while a top-floor sublease at One Vanderbilt, beside Grand Central, is reaching for about $350.
Nomad Notion · Opinion
Downtown is the value play right now
The loudest lease of the quarter was not in Midtown. American Express committed to the entire 2 World Trade Center, roughly 2 million square feet, the generational anchor that finally completes the World Trade Center campus. When a name that size plants a flag, the rest of the market reads it as a signal. So do we.
Here is the signal. You can still get Class A Downtown for less than the all-in cost of comparable space in Midtown or Midtown South. Same trophy quality, lower total number, and that gap is exactly why the tech names are moving. Norm Ai took 64,313 square feet at One World Trade Center. Adaptive Security subleased 51,000 at 120 Broadway. Dandy took 37,000 at 22 Cortlandt. Cleary Gottlieb committed 475,000 at One Liberty Plaza. Five years ago that tenant mix Downtown was unthinkable.
It is a genuine value play, and the firms taking advantage of it are getting trophy buildings, big contiguous floors, and real concession packages, at a number Midtown South cannot match right now. Speed still decides it. The teams that have done the work, that know the three buildings that fit and can move, are the ones winning the space and the terms. The discount is real, and it narrows as the migration accelerates.
This is not a case for chasing the cheapest rent. It is a note that the map has changed. The firms that widened their search this quarter, and looked Downtown alongside Midtown South, are the ones getting trophy space at a discount. We expect more to follow.
The Map · Q2's 20 Largest Leases
Where the quarter's biggest deals landed
The twenty largest Manhattan leases of Q2, plotted where they signed. Pin size tracks square footage, color tracks sector. Hover any pin for the deal. The tech and AI names cluster exactly where you would expect: the Broadway loft corridor, NoMad, Hudson Square, and now Downtown at One World Trade Center.
Simpson Thacher916,000 SF · 570 Fifth AveMidtown Cleary Gottlieb475,000 SF · One Liberty PlazaFiDi Alston & Bird170,000 SF · 51 West 52ndMidtown Tennr124,733 SF · 345 Hudson StHudson Square Baker McKenzie122,000 SF · 10 Bryant ParkBryant Park Sierra94,145 SF · 11 East 26thNoMad Adyen90,000 SF · 111 Fifth AveFlatiron Norm Ai64,313 SF · One World Trade CenterFiDi Altana62,000 SF · Midtown (approx.)Midtown Steve Madden60,000 SF · 501 Seventh AveGarment Robin Hood53,000 SF · 841 BroadwayUnion Square Adaptive Security51,000 SF · 120 BroadwayFiDi Apollo Global50,000 SF · 590 MadisonPlaza District Synthesia50,000 SF · Flatiron (approx.)Flatiron Robinson+Cole48,000 SF · 100 Park AveGrand Central Groombridge Wu43,000 SF · 1185 Sixth AveTimes Square Marex40,000 SF · 560 LexingtonPlaza District Dandy37,000 SF · 22 CortlandtFiDi Withers33,000 SF · 30 Rockefeller PlazaPlaza District Profound30,000 SF · 5-9 Union Sq WestUnion Square - Simpson Thacher 570 Fifth Ave · Midtown 916,000 SF
- Cleary Gottlieb One Liberty Plaza · FiDi 475,000 SF
- Alston & Bird 51 West 52nd · Midtown 170,000 SF
- Tennr 345 Hudson St · Hudson Square 124,733 SF
- Baker McKenzie 10 Bryant Park · Bryant Park 122,000 SF
- Sierra 11 East 26th · NoMad 94,145 SF
- Adyen 111 Fifth Ave · Flatiron 90,000 SF
- Norm Ai One World Trade Center · FiDi 64,313 SF
- Altana Midtown (approx.) · Midtown 62,000 SF
- Steve Madden 501 Seventh Ave · Garment 60,000 SF
- Robin Hood 841 Broadway · Union Square 53,000 SF
- Adaptive Security 120 Broadway · FiDi 51,000 SF
- Apollo Global 590 Madison · Plaza District 50,000 SF
- Synthesia Flatiron (approx.) · Flatiron 50,000 SF
- Robinson+Cole 100 Park Ave · Grand Central 48,000 SF
- Groombridge Wu 1185 Sixth Ave · Times Square 43,000 SF
- Marex 560 Lexington · Plaza District 40,000 SF
- Dandy 22 Cortlandt · FiDi 37,000 SF
- Withers 30 Rockefeller Plaza · Plaza District 33,000 SF
- Profound 5-9 Union Sq West · Union Square 30,000 SF
Pin size scales with square footage, color with sector. Hover any pin for the deal. Ten of the twenty are AI or tech, clustered in the loft corridor, Hudson Square, and Downtown. Two positions (Altana, Synthesia) are approximate; the rest are the actual buildings.
Sources & methodology
Where the numbers come from
- Marketwide metrics · availability, asking rent, absorption, and leasing, from the latest month-end reads used as a Q2 proxy, with final Q2 leasing volume from the one quarter-final source published to date.
- Submarket detail · SoHo, Hudson Square, Midtown South, and the rest, from Q1 2026 submarket tables and spring 2026 asking surveys.
- Named transactions · Q2 2026 and recent leases reported across the real estate trade press and verified against multiple outlets.
- Tech and venture detail · AI and Series A to D tenant moves, with funding stage from company and investor announcements.
- Concessions · taking-rent index used as a proxy; it captures rent discounting but not free rent or improvement allowances.
- Nomad transactions and listings · Nomad's completed leases and active availability sheet, asking rents only.
- Full source list · available from Nomad on request.
Methodology
This issue reviews the second quarter of 2026 (April 1 to June 30). Final quarterly leasing volume was available from one source; quarter-end supply, rent, and absorption are best proxied by the latest month-end reads, since full Q2 desk reports publish in mid to late July. Where figures differ across desks, we use the more conservative reading. Anthropic's lease of the entire building at 330 Hudson Street was finalized in early July 2026 and is treated here as signed. Any item still described as reported or rumored is labeled as such.
Named leases are verified against multiple outlets before inclusion, and the stealth-tenant lab lease at 325 Hudson Street is a Nomad-completed transaction. The taking-rent index is a concession proxy: it captures rent discounting off ask but not free rent or improvement allowances, so a full concession read should come from broker books. Tier-level asking rents blend published market data with Nomad's own active availabilities and should be confirmed on a specific building. Full source detail is available from Nomad on request.
Statistical base: Q1 2026 · Data through: June 30, 2026 · Published: July 2026. Prepared by Nomad Group for informational purposes. Market data is sourced as noted above and believed reliable but is not guaranteed; asking rents and availabilities change without notice. Nomad Group represents tenants. This report is not an offer, a lease, or investment, legal, or tax advice.
nomad
Where vision takes shape.
If your team is heading toward its next 10,000 to 50,000 square feet, the read on this quarter is simple: the good space clears fast. We know the loft districts block by block, we represent tenants only, and we work for you, not the landlord.
Nicholas Hein · Director, Nomad Group · (646) 688-4394 · nicholas@nomadgroup.io
The Manhattan Office Report · Nº 2026 · Q2 · Published July 2026 · Nomad Group · Tenant Representation · New York City · nomadgroup.io ■
The team
The people you'll actually deal with
Tenant-side brokers, builders and operators, 300+ New York offices delivered between them.
Meet the whole team →
William Janetschek
Matthew DeRose
Megan Gallagher
Nicholas Hein
Adam Justin
David GreeneTalk to a broker
Where vision takes shape
If your team is heading toward its next 10,000 to 50,000 square feet, the read on this quarter is simple: the good space clears fast. We know the loft districts block by block, and we work for you, not the landlord.
- Same daya broker replies personally, no automated triage
- Tenant-onlyNomad never represents the landlord
- Open pricingrent and size published before you talk to anyone
- 300+ officesdelivered across 2M+ sq ft in New York
Or call 646-688-3158
