Tech Sector Office Leasing in Manhattan Continues to Rebound in 2025
Following a post-pandemic period of ongoing news headlines reporting a downsizing of office space by larger technology companies, the trend reversed in 2024, closing its best year of post-pandemic activity with an annual total of 3.16 million square feet — the highest volume since 2019 when leasing hit a record high of nearly 7 million square feet. Fueling a rise in expansion, long-term renewals, the establishment of first New York City locations, and some outright purchases is a combination of factors such as the rise of artificial intelligence, growth from firms using artificial intelligence (AI), and stricter in-office requirements according to reported findings of a recent industry study. Between January and April 2025, tech leasing in Manhattan reached 1.67 million square feet — the “best start to a year since 2000.” E-commerce giant Amazon “has been a catalyst for activity within Manhattan,” leasing over 635,000 square feet and purchasing the roughly 400,000-square-foot building at 522 Fifth Avenue since the start of 2025, “after acknowledging it didn’t have enough space to accommodate all of the employees it had called back to their workspaces five days a week.” Adding to Amazon’s leasing volume were several big block signings by other tech firms such as IBM’s expansion deal for 92,663 square feet at 1 Madison Avenue, 84,000-square-foot and 75,000-square-foot leases by fintech firms Chime and Intuit, and a 50,000-square-foot relocation deal by AI market intelligence platform AlphaSense. “While the reemergence of ‘traditional’ tech firms has spearheaded the sector’s recovery, the rapid rise of AI — both as a technology in and of itself and its application within products and services — has served to supplement this momentum.” From 2023 to 2025 year-to-date, AI’s share of tech sector office leasing in Manhattan has risen to 19%, more than double the 8% share from 2020 to 2022.