Offices in the Big Apple have set a post-pandemic record for visits but remain well below pre-Covid levels.
The news comes from Placer.ai's latest monthly analysis of 350 Manhattan office buildings, which was released by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). For July, the software firm recorded that those properties averaged a visitation rate of 72 percent of 2019 levels.
Overall, Midtown buildings have led the demand. Average visitation for that category was 75 percent of the pre-pandemic levels.
Class A+ buildings in Manhattan saw the biggest traffic increase month-over-month in July, going to 86 percent from 91 percent in June. And year-over-year, that figure improved nine percent. B and C office properties remained at 75 percent of 2019 levels on average.
However, there have been some struggles with other types of buildings. ClassA/A- saw a four percentage point drop in July versus the previous month. Submarkets in Midtown, Midtown South, and Downtown all dropped between five and six percentage points on average month-over-month. However, they all increased from July 2023, according to REBNY.
"Excluding the Fourth of July week, Manhattan office buildings maintained June's momentum," Keith DeCoster, vice president of research at the real estate trade association, said in a statement.
"Newly constructed or renovated properties, as well as some Class B buildings with prime access to transit, continued to outperform."