Cheaper New York offices could free up cash for desk booking
Now could be the ideal time for firms to secure office space in New York, invest in
desk booking software and create a flagship headquarters in the Big Apple.
Asking rents in Manhattan fell by 20 per cent to $55.20 (£34.90) per sq ft between December 2008 and December 2009, while Midtown rates dropped by 22.5 per cent in the same period.
The amount of vacancies rose from 8.5 per cent to 12 per cent of total capacity over the year.
Such statistics suggest that there may never be a more affordable time to move in to New York, with the words of Joseph Harbert, chief operating officer at commercial firm Cushman and Wakefield, backing this theory up.
He says: "We're calling this close to the bottom. Rents will go down a bit from here, vacancies will go up a bit, but you won’t see any dramatic movements on either of those fronts in the next nine months."
The Hello Northwest project in England recently announced it was giving away office space for free - which, as in New York, could encourage firms to use their budget on
desk booking software.
