Lower Manhattan Real Estate Overview, Q3 2020

The Alliance for Downtown New York announces the release of the Q3 2020 Lower Manhattan Real Estate Market Report providing a review of commercial office, retail, residential, hospitality and development projects.
Though some business restrictions were eased and cases remained low into early fall, economic activity was still limited and the Manhattan core saw continued low levels of daily commercial activity. Major findings during the second quarter include:  

• Commercial Leasing – The third quarter saw Lower Manhattan set an all-time record low at 455,000 sq. ft. Leasing activity was down 12% from the second quarter and 64% below the five-year quarterly average as real estate decisions were put on hold. Only 11% of office-occupying workers in Manhattan returned to their desks through September, with the majority primarily opting to continue working remotely.  

• Retail – Over 95 retailers have permanently closed since the pandemic began, including the iconic department store Century 21.  
• Hotel – The AKA Wall Street announced its permanent closure, while the de Blasio administration announced the intention to convert the Radisson Wall Street into a homeless shelter.  
• Residential – Two condo buildings received their TCOs: 25 Park Row (110 units) and 30 Warren Street (23 units). 

The Downtown Alliance also created a COVID Recovery Dashboard and Resource page as an up-to-date clearinghouse for Lower Manhattan’s COVID recovery data, as well as to highlight our most prominent initiatives supporting local businesses. Our COVID recovery dashboard includes real estate market data across all sectors, as well as metrics related to transportation, population and pedestrian traffic in the district. Details here.