SKIP AHEAD TO

• Total Value (Consideration) of the Top Ten List Rose Considerably In 2024 Over the Prior Year
• 2024’s Top Ten Deals Featured 8 Deals With Starting Rents of $100 or More, the Highest Annual Share Since This List Has Been Tracked
• Average Work Value Declines Slightly Year-Over-Year but Stays in Triple Digits for Fifth-Year Running
• Average Transaction Size Increased and Term Length Declined in 2024 as FIRE and Law Tenants Expanded Footprints
• Blackstone Secures Largest Office Lease of 2024 by Transaction Size, While Willkie Farr & Gallagher Signs Longest Lease Term Among Top Deals
• Majority of Top Ten Deals Inked Outside of New Construction for Second Consecutive Year
• Law Firms and Financial Services Dominate: 70% of Top Ten Deals in 2024
• Midtown Accounted for All Top Ten Deals for the First Time Since List Tracked

As featured by Bisnow in an exclusive article, “The Companies Spending Hundreds Of Millions On NYC Office Space,” CompStak is pleased to present the ten most valuable office leases inked in Manhattan in 2024. With this article, CompStak concluded its sixth consecutive year of ranking Manhattan’s top ten most valuable office lease deals, highlighting notable changes in the office market during this transformative period for the sector from 2019 to 2024.
Among the most notable findings for 2024’s top deals:

Transaction Size: The average transaction size across the top ten deals of 2024 topped 525,000 square feet (525,814) reflecting an increase of 24.1% from 2023’s average. 

Industry: 2024’s top ten list was dominated by FIRE (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) and Legal Services tenants accounting for 70% of all top ten deals for the second consecutive year.  

Renewals: The majority of 2024’s top ten deals represented renewals or extensions, accounting for six of the top ten transactions for the second consecutive year, and notably four of those represented expansions in their footprint.

New Construction: Just two of 2024’s top ten took place in new construction (66 Hudson Boulevard) or a majorly redeveloped building (660 Fifth Avenue) in a slight uptick from last year when all top ten deals were in existing buildings. 

Submarket/Location: Midtown and the Park Avenue submarket dominated the top deals in 2024 for the second year in a row, with Midtown capturing all top ten spots for the first time since CompStak began this ranking. Park Avenue also claimed the largest share (16.7%) of top deals from 2019 to 2024.

Here’s a look back at everything CompStak has uncovered in the last six years, 2019 – 2024’s top ten deals by value in Manhattan’s office market:

Total Value (Consideration) of the Top Ten List Rose Considerably In 2024 Over the Prior Year

The overall value of the top ten office deals in 2024 totaled over $7.12 billion, a 16.4% increase over 2023. Additionally, 2024 saw the largest share of the top ten deals fall within the $750 to $1 billion range, the first time that has happened in at least six years. Among those was Bloomberg’s renewal at 731 Lexington Avenue with a total lease value of over $880 million. TPG’s lease at 66 Hudson Boulevard for $1.1 billion lease was the only deal in 2024 to exceed $1 billion—since 2019, only nine out of 60 deals have surpassed this threshold. The largest since 2019 was signed by Warner Media in 2019 with a lease for $1.97 billion dollars at 30 Hudson Yards. 

2024’s Top Ten Deals Featured Eight Deals With Starting Rents of $100 or More, the Highest Annual Share Since This List Has Been Tracked

The average starting rent for these top ten deals increased solidly in 2024, rising to over $119 per square foot, 55.3% higher than the 2023 average. This was due in large part to the sharp increase of top deals with starting rents of $100+ per square foot, one more than the previous high seen in 2022. The highest starting rent in the top ten list in 2024 was signed by TPG at 66 Hudson Boulevard with its starting rent of $182 per square foot. 

Average Work Value for Top Ten Declined Slightly Year-Over-Year but Remained in Triple Digits for Fifth Straight Year

The average tenant improvement allowance for the top ten deals declined slightly year-over-year to its lowest level since 2019, while the free rent period increased to 14.6 months in 2024. The average work value among the top ten deals in 2024 was $127.70 per square foot, remaining in the triple-digit range for the fifth consecutive year. This is notable, even as renewals—traditionally receiving less in tenant improvement allowances from landlords—dominated the list for the second year in a row.

Average Transaction Size Increased and Term Length Declined in 2024 as Key FIRE and Law Tenants Expanded Footprints

The year 2024 saw the biggest increase in average transaction size since 2022’s jump from 2021, and the second-highest annual average since the list was tracked, hitting 525,814 square feet. Meanwhile, the average lease term fell to its second lowest point since the list was tracked to 181.6 months. The average transaction size among the top deal deals in 2024 was up 24.1% compared to 2023, while the average lease term was 15.4% shorter than last year. Of the six of the top ten deals in 2024 that involved renewals, four also included expansions: Blackstone expanded its existing footprint at 345 Park Avenue by 30.9%; Bloomberg expanded its footprint at 919 Third Avenue by 23.5%; Ares Management increased its footprint at 245 Park Avenue by 75%; and Willkie Farr & Gallagher expanded its footprint at 787 7th Avenue by 14.6%. 

Blackstone Secures Largest Office Lease of 2024 by Transaction Size, While Willkie Farr & Gallagher Signs Longest Lease Term Among Top Deals

The Blackstone Group signed the largest single lease among top 2024 office deals at over 1 million square feet, the largest deal on these top ten lists since Fox and News Corp’s 1.15-million-square foot renewal at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in 2023. As for the longest lease term among 2024’s top deals, that ranking was secured by law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher with a term length (weighted) of 265 months.

Majority of Top Ten Deals Inked Outside of New Construction for Second Consecutive Year

For the second consecutive year, the top deals of 2024 by value primarily occurred in existing buildings. Among the top transactions, only one lease involved new construction, though TPG’s lease for nearly 300,000 square feet at Tishman Speyer’s 66 Hudson Boulevard accounted for the year’s most valuable deal overall and the largest deal by value in new construction since Meta’s 730,000-square-foot lease at the Farley Building in 2020. Meanwhile, Citadel’s 503,000-square-foot lease at the 2022 renovated 1.4-million-square-foot 660 Fifth Avenue ranked eighth. Apart from these deals, the average construction year of the existing properties in the top ten deals was 1973. Among these buildings, only one is considered a trophy property: the 1.8-million-square-foot 245 Park Avenue, built in 1966 and owned by SL Green and Mori Trust Company, where Ares Management renewed and expanded its lease. Since 2019, just 18.3% of the top ten deals have taken place in newly constructed buildings. With few new towers in the current construction pipeline in Manhattan, this share is unlikely to grow in the coming year.

Law Firms and Financial Services Dominate: 70% of Top Ten Deals in 2024

For the second consecutive year, law firms and financial services firms were the major players among the top deals by value completed in Manhattan in 2024. This year, financial firms completed four of the top ten deals with the largest among them, TPG, taking the top spot overall with the private equity firm’s relocation west to Hudson Yards from 888 Seventh Avenue and 245 Park Avenue. Overall, FIRE and Legal Services have accounted for half of the deals appearing on these top ten lists since 2019. This trend towards the outsized presence of these industries in the Manhattan market has been more pronounced in recent years. As recently reported by CompStak, of all Manhattan deals signed at triple-digit starting rents in 2024 (not limited to the top ten deals)—a trend that has been rising since 2020—nearly two-thirds were signed by FIRE or Legal Services tenants in Class A Midtown buildings, up from 57.8% in 2018.  Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s two separate Midtown renewals in the top ten were the only entries from the TAMI sector (Technology, Advertising, Media, and Information) on this year’s list. Overall, leasing from the technology sector, especially regarding new or expansion transactions, has been subdued over the last couple of years in Manhattan as the industry rightsizes its office presence. 

Midtown Accounted for All Top Ten Deals for the First Time Since List Tracked

Midtown Manhattan has consistently dominated the list of top deals each year since 2019, but 2024 marked its peak, with all top deals concentrated in the district. This represents an increase from the previous three years, during which 70% of the top deals were located in Manhattan’s largest business district. Notably, the Park Avenue corridor stood out in 2024 with three major deals signed, bringing its total to ten top deals since 2019. Meanwhile, Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue submarket follows closely, with nine top deals secured over the same period.

ICYMI, Bisnow covered the top ten deals in an exclusive article, The Companies Spending Hundreds Of Millions On NYC Office Space

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