During a day of in-depth discussions, optimistic projections and the occasional hard truth at Commercial Observer’s ‘New York State of Office Forum’, which was held at RXR’s Starrett-Lehigh Building on May 15, RXR Chairman and CEO Scott Rechler spoke about the current state of the post-COVID office market. Rechler shared that that strong demand for Class A space in New York has been driven in part by the return of tech companies to major New York office leases, and that tech’s status as just one aspect of New York’s mix of industries is a major factor in what keeps the city’s office sector moving forward.
“One of the things that makes New York so great is the diversity of industries here. You don’t have that in other parts of the country. When San Francisco didn’t have tech, that was a drought. When New York doesn’t have tech, we’re still filling up all the space and beginning this incredible absorption process and dynamic leasing cycle. And now tech comes back to the market, and all of a sudden there’s a scarcity of large blocks of space. This has turned into a landlord’s market, where if a tenant wants a big block of space, they can’t hesitate to act or it won’t be there.”
