The sky’s the limit for Manhattan skyscraper office rents, after 2025 saw a record 313 leases starting at $100 per square foot. Some industry insiders said new rents up to $250 are within reach — but also cautioned the C-Note bubble could burst.
The $100-and-up deals were done at 125 buildings, compared with the 2024 tally of 85, according to JLL’s year-end Analysis of Top Tier Transactions. The total volume of 9.9 million square feet done at such prices narrowly topped 9.8 million the previous year.
JLL declined to discuss specific tenants. But outside brokerage sources told Realty Check that SL Green’s One Vanderbilt scored the highest price on a per-square-foot basis for the second year in a row. Kyndryl, an infrastructure service provider, signed for a mind-boggling $305 psf for a minuscule 6,300 square feet.
The super-priced phenomenon rests on tenants’ desire for premium digs with high-floor views at any cost. It also reflects the robust commercial scene where strong demand and diminished supply reduced overall Manhattan availability from nearly 20% a year ago to 13.2%, as per JLL -– and much tighter on Park Avenue, the World Trade Center, and in the Hudson Yards area.
“The volume of $100-plus deals represents one-third of all Manhattan lease signings in 2025,” said JLL vice chairman and research head Cynthia Wasserberger, who wrote the report with Margaux Kelleher.
Tech, media and information industry companies dominated with 31% of all top-tier transactions.
“Rental premiums are being driven by extreme scarcity of supply, costs of new construction, and a rising-tide effect, while concessions such as free rent and tenant improvement and interior buildout contributions remain healthy,” Wasserberger said. “It is not a stretch to assume that more top-tier buildings will seek rents in the $200+ range more frequently in 2026.”
The once-elusive $100 benchmark became the norm at premium locations in 2025. Top-tier rents start at least 15% pricier than for the Manhattan average of roughly $85 psf.
Among the “asks” were $120 psf at 500 Park Ave.; $105-110 psf at 75 Rockefeller Plaza; $100-plus at 330 Madison Ave.; $140 and $170 psf in different parts of 320 Park Ave.; and $135 on the 54th floor of 30 Rock.
Even so, a tenants’ broker not at JLL commented, “We might be nearing the ceiling of what rents can be obtained. I’m seeing pushback from some clients who are balking at the numbers even for very small spaces.”
JLL wouldn’t identify tenants for any of the new leases. But outside brokerage and landlord sources told Realty Check the big-bucks commitments included MGX and Truist, which each signed for more than $200 per square foot at Related’s 50 Hudson Yards. Current, a mobile banking fintech service firm, paid over $100 psf at Vornado’s 2 Penn.
Others shelling out big bucks were Monday.com’s 138,399 square feet at 225-233 Park Ave. South; Bank of India’s 41,000 sf relocation to 425 Park Ave.; and Shopify’s 24,130 sf expansion at 85 Tenth Ave.
Asking rents exceed $200 psf at 9 West 57th St., where Soloviev Group announced three new tenants in 2025 totaling over 40,000 square feet — Hess Group, Beaconlight Capital, and Platinum Equity Advisors.
At the Seagram Building at 375 Park Ave., where rents also start at $200, a renewal and expansion by Mubadala Investment was reported in the $250 psf range.
JLL’s Wasserberger predicted, “As space availability continues to tighten, rents will increase for top space even as new construction reaches the market.
But she cautioned, “The question is whether tenants will continue to find these rents sustainable, or if they will seek alternatives.”
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