Entire blocks of office space in New York City used to be extremely hard to find, but the cooling real estate market combined with the subprime mortgage crisis is affecting commercial office space. Well over 15 million sq feet of empty office space is currently on the market. A leading commercial brokerage firm Colliers ABR confirms a 100% increase in available office space in Manhattan, and this is only the start of a commercial real estate slowdown in New York City.

The subprime mortgage crisis has resulted in huge layoffs in the banking and financial industry, resulting in these companies needing less and less space for their offices. Other factors in the empty office space are relocation and disposal of real estate assets by many companies.

Rent for occupied space is decreasing, taking into consideration the glut of commercial inventory on the market. In Midtown and Downtown Manhattan rental rates have dropped by around 25%.