New York luxury office market booms as companies seek high-end amenities

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New York’s luxury office market is booming as flourishing financial services, legal and technology companies seek comfort and space for their employees, according to data from real estate brokers.

The number of leases signed for Manhattan office space priced at $100 or more per sq ft rocketed to an all-time high last year, according to data from brokerages JLL and CBRE.

The move to snap up luxury office space is being driven by a fierce desire to attract talent and pull more employees back to the office. “We’ve never seen such a commitment to high- end real estate as a personnel decision,” said Mary Ann Tighe, chief executive of CBRE’s New York tri-state region. 

“Everything is catering to the employee . . . it’s not just like . . . ‘Here’s your little four-foot section, here’s a water filter, go have fun’,” said Alexander Erdos, senior vice-president of leasing and development at luxury office developer SJP Properties.

“It’s like ‘Here’s our coffee offering for today, here’s your room service dining’, . . . really, really high-end offerings that are encouraging people to spend more time in the space.”

There were 313 office leases signed at prices of at least $100 per sq ft last year, according to JLL data, up from 212 in 2024. CBRE reported 196 similar transactions in 2025.

Real estate group Cushman & Wakefield said that leasing property it would consider luxury reached nearly 6.8mn sq ft in 2025, up almost 50 per cent on the previous year and the highest level since 2019. 

Senior brokers across the city emphasised that JPMorgan Chase’s new headquarters, which the bank owns and unveiled to much fanfare in October, has set a new standard for professional service companies in New York.

“Folks who compete with JPMorgan for business have taken note,” said Hilary Spann, New York region executive vice-president of real estate investment trust BXP.

From amenities to location, the changes companies were making to heighten the luxury office experience had been “spearheaded by JPMorgan’s deep commitment to the city”, said Bruce Mosler, chair of global brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield. 

The bank’s headquarters on Park Avenue — which hosts a state-of-the-art health and wellness centre and 19 dining options — is a two-minute walk from Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan, an area that Mosler said had seen a “resurgence” as companies make an effort to shorten their employees’ commutes. 

“New York . . . particularly the Park Avenue submarket is the best leasing market in the country,” said Spann.

The offerings at luxury offices are growing in variety and sumptuousness. At 520 Fifth Avenue, one of the properties represented by JLL, employees working in the building can spend time at a golf simulator, a pickleball court and a spa with hot and cold plunge pools. 

Back-to-the-office policies have also had an impact. While finance companies have been pushing a physical return to the office for the past couple of years, tech and creative groups have become “more stringent” about in-office attendance recently, according to JLL’s vice-chair Cynthia Wasserberger.

A constricted construction pipeline in the city had also helped lift rent prices in already expensive buildings, said brokers.

The top three largest leases by square foot secured in New York in 2025 were signed by New York University, Jane Street and Deloitte, according to real estate data group CoStar.