Manhattan Retail Stats
Commercial Observer
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Availability dropped and leasing increased in the first quarter of 2025 in the Manhattan retail real estate market. Read on for specifics. Also for today: A major multifamily sale in Orange County, Calif.
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— Tom Acitelli, Deputy Editor
Manhattan’s Retail Market Sees High Leasing in Q1 But Tariffs Could Upend It
Manhattan’s retail market saw a relatively successful first quarter in 2025, but new tariffs under the Trump administration could throw a spanner in the works for the next quarter. The first quarter’s rolling four-quarter leasing volume, which measures total leasing for the past 12 months, was more than 3.5 million square feet, a 14 percent increase year-over-year, according to a recent report from CBRE. First-quarter leasing volume also was 7 percent greater than the fourth quarter of 2024, the report found. Food and beverage tenants were the primary driver of that leasing, with more than 171,000 square feet leased across 39 transactions in that category during the first quarter, CBRE found. As for which neighborhood saw the most deals completed during the first quarter, the Upper East Side came out on top with 13 transactions totaling more than 53,000 square feet.
Crescent Heights Closes One of O.C.’s Priciest Multifamily Deals Ever
A Miami-based development and investment group has pulled the trigger on one of the priciest multifamily deals ever closed in Southern California’s Orange County. Crescent Heights — led by Sonny Kahn, Russell Galbut and Bruce Menin — has paid $240 million to Essex Property Trust for Skyline at MacArthur Place, a pair of 25-story residential towers in Santa Ana. The deal for the 350-unit luxury towers is the fourth most expensive multifamily trade in Orange County’s history, according to CoStar. The deal is also a good return for Essex. The real estate investment trust, alongside a joint venture partner, paid $128 million for the complex, at 15 MacArthur Place, in 2010. The towers were originally built by Nexus Development as for-sale condominium units, but faced foreclosure in the wake of the housing crash. Essex subsequently converted the condos into apartments, and bought out its unnamed former partner for $85 million in 2012.
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