Suburban HQs Beat Downtown Commutes

What’s driving the shift to Hudson Square for media and tech offices? Here’s what’s shaping tenant decisions now: After rezoning, Hudson Square’s modern Class A buildings and flexible spaces have become magnets for companies that want more than just a Midtown tower. Creative and tech tenants are drawn to the unique mix of converted industrial buildings, walkable streets, and lifestyle amenities steps from the Hudson River. Upgraded infrastructure, new retail, and expanded public spaces make the area feel vibrant, supporting brands that want offices to reflect company culture. Access to strong transit and proximity to SoHo and Tribeca mean employees and clients can easily connect without Midtown congestion. Developers have responded by repositioning older assets with premium amenities, giving growth-focused occupiers real options outside traditional cores. A west side location offers the buzz of an emerging neighborhood while still delivering modern workspace standards. Tenant reps now have more leverage to negotiate favorable terms with motivated landlords looking for signature tenants in this evolving submarket. For office users in New York City-Manhattan, these changes open the door to more than just a rent negotiation, they invite a new way to look at workplace value. What office feature or neighborhood perk matters most for your next space? Save this list and share it with your team as you plan your next move. Hal Eskenazi Licensed Real Estate Broker Senior Managing Director-Commercial Division Norman Bobrow Real Estate “The Tenants Broker” Our cost to tenants are free. 488 Madison Avenue 19th Floor New York NY 10022 heskenazi@normanbobrow.com direct 212 682-9063 #NYCRealEstate #CommercialRealEstate

A Wall Street Journal story today on downtown Denver’s office distress caught my attention… Denver is giving us a live case study in value destruction and value creation happening at the same time. The ugly part: downtown office vacancy is near 39%, and some towers are trading at massive discounts. The interesting part: buyers are not just asking, “How do we refill this with office tenants?” They are asking, “What else can this become?” That is the better question. The WSJ article highlighted Asher Luzzatto’s bet on converting distressed downtown Denver office buildings into housing and neighborhood-style amenities. Colorado Politics previously reported that one project, High Fidelity Plaza, received $63 million from the Denver Downtown Development Authority and is planned around 700 apartments, childcare, a children’s museum, a movie theater, grocery, art gallery, and other uses. That is not just a real estate story. It is a repositioning story. The asset did not become worthless overnight. The old thesis did. I think the same thing happens in privately held businesses. A company can look tired under one strategy and valuable under another. Same equipment. Same customer base. Same employees. Same location. Different plan. That is where sophisticated buyers make money. They do not only buy what exists. They buy what can be rebuilt, repositioned, or operated better. The lesson for owners is simple: Do not wait for a buyer to see the upside before you do. Because once they see the repositioning opportunity first, they are not paying you for it. They are buying it from you.

Tishman Speyer Secures Two New Tenants at Angel Square, Islington, Strengthening London Office Demand Tishman Speyer has secured two new tenants at its Angel Square redevelopment in Islington, further strengthening leasing momentum at one of London’s most closely watched office regeneration schemes as demand for high-quality, well-located workspace continues to recover. – The latest lettings follow strong pre-leasing activity at the scheme, including LADbible Group’s c.32,000 sq ft relocation from Aldgate, with occupiers drawn to the building’s upgraded sustainability credentials, modern floorplates, and direct connectivity above Angel Underground Station. – The activity also reflects a broader trend across the London office market, where prime, transport-linked assets with strong ESG performance are outperforming older stock, as occupiers prioritise energy efficiency, amenity-rich environments, and talent retention in post-pandemic workplace strategies. Read more:👉 https://lnkd.in/e-9s5hFe #CommercialProperty #LondonOffices #OfficeMarket #UKEstates

Downtown Chicago office vacancy is hovering over 28 % — many months have seen record highs. But what's actually happening underneath? Most companies I talk to aren't asking if they need space. They're asking how much and what kind. That recalibration is still underway. That said, for occupiers who know what they want, the leverage is real. Landlords under pressure on older product are offering concession packages that would have been unthinkable five years ago. If you have clarity on your space strategy, this is a window worth paying attention to. Todays’ market is highly bifurcated. Trophy and Class A space with strong amenities, good transit access, and modern infrastructure is holding relatively firm while Class B and older product is In some cases trading at 10–20 cents on the dollar. From a corporate real estate perspective, a few things are worth tracking: Contiguous large blocks are scarcer than you'd think. Despite near-30% vacancy, only about 12% of downtown inventory can accommodate a 100k+ sf requirement. If you're a large occupier, your options are more limited than the headline suggests. Leasing velocity is soft. Q1 2026 activity was down substantially year-over-year. Companies aren't making rushed decisions, which is rational given the current hybrid work protocols. The Chicago CBD isn't a simple story of distress or recovery. It's a market demanding more precision to find the right deal. Share your thoughts in the comments!

Good read on how Richmond’s idea of “trophy” office space is evolving. The shift is really about where new top-tier assets are being delivered with more are showing up beyond the traditional downtown core. With newer projects pushing rents into the mid $40s PSF, demand for high-quality, well-located space is still strong. Curious to see what comes next! #Colliers #Richmond #officespace

https://lnkd.in/eGxfBQ5z ... The Midtown South neighborhood had the third-highest office availability rate in Manhattan at the end of 2026’s first quarter, at 19.4 percent, according to Colliers data. The relative glut of opportunity there — paired with big-name tenants, large floor plates and pricey building upgrades — has attracted a rush of large leases to Hudson Square this year. ...

Exclusive: S.F.’s biggest office lease in years comes to one of the city’s troubled neighborhoods By Laura Waxmann, Staff Writer June 5, 2026 The City of San Francisco has committed to the largest office lease in the city since 2018 by extending its space in 1455 Market St. The City of San Francisco has committed to the largest office lease in the city since 2018 by extending its space in 1455 Market St. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle 2023 It’s the clearest sign yet that San Francisco is betting on the future of Mid-Market: City officials are targeting the struggling downtown neighborhood for the city’s largest lease deal in the post-pandemic era. Multiple city departments already occupy over 400,000 square feet inside of 1455 Market St., a 22-story office tower once rented to Uber during the last tech boom. The plan is to expand that in the tower by 502,000 square feet, growing the city government’s footprint in the building to a total of roughly 930,000 square feet. As part of the transaction with property owner Hudson Pacific Properties, rather than an increase according to a previously negotiated schedule, the city’s rent for its expanded space in the tower will reset to $40 per square foot. That values the entire lease at over $1 billion over its life. The deal also means that the city is not planning to act on its right to purchase by the end of 2027, per its prior contract. Though it could have more chances to acquire the tower in the future.

Austin Downtown Office Buy Signals Texas CRE Bet — With vacancy soaring yet pricing reset below replacement cost, Austin’s downtown office market may be flashing a contrarian Texas CRE buy signal.

Austin Downtown Office Buy Signals Texas CRE Bet — With vacancy soaring yet pricing reset below replacement cost, Austin’s downtown office market may be flashing a contrarian Texas CRE buy signal.

As we all know, Denver’s office market recently showed up in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. And while the headline caused a stir, there is an incredibly important story in our market, along with some nuance that matters. It’s easy to see that potential office-to-residential conversions are a good thing for Denver. When distressed or obsolete office buildings can be repositioned into residences, we gain housing supply and a stronger downtown ecosystem. But here is a distinction we did not see in the story: not all vacancy is the same. In today’s office market, while some buildings are actively competing for tenants, others are on the sidelines while ownership evaluates conversion or redevelopment. Our colleague Brian Craig recently referred to these sidelined projects as “zombie” buildings in the Denver Business Journal: properties that remain in the office inventory on paper but are either not participating in the leasing market or are already underway in the process of repositioning. In Brian’s analysis, excluding these kinds of buildings reduced reported CBD vacancy by nearly 400 basis points. In fact, High Fidelity Plaza and the Denver Energy Center currently account for roughly 7% of Denver’s downtown office inventory. If those assets are successfully repositioned and leave the office inventory, vacancy goes down not only because of office demand, but because the market is right-sizing its supply. Our responsibility to clients is to provide context and interpretation around the data whenever we can. For us, the key takeaway is that vacancy is not one-dimensional. The path to recovery will be shaped by both leasing activity and the repositioning of obsolete supply.