Oh, If This Is What Schumer Wanted to Do, Republicans Should Nuke the...
Some Democrats Are Admitting They Lied Before The Election
Slap Down The Slander
Missouri Official Makes The Right Move on Gun Control Proposal
A Quick Bible Study Vol. 242: What the Old Testament Says About Fearing...
With an Honest Press, Democrats Wouldn't Have Been Shocked at the Election...
Pentagon Fails to Answer Where $824 Billion Went
WWIII: Biden Authorizes Ukraine to Use U.S. Long-Range Missiles to Target Inside Russia
WaPo Calls Out Dem Bob Casey for Trying to Overturn PA Senate Race
Here's How Transgender Minors Are Responding to Trump's Election Victory
So, Pete Hegseth Is Now a White Supremacist?
Social Media Mocks Biden After He Gets Back-Row Spot In Photo With Xi...
Trump Attends UFC Fight With High-Profile Crew
What Does Trump’s Election Mean for Evangelical Christians?
MSNBC Guest Who Went After Pete Hegseth Facing Backlash From All Sides
Tipsheet

Manhattan's Empty Office Spaces Is a Reminder That Economic Catastrophe Awaits

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File

The Biden economy is a house of cards. You know this—it’s the perfect execution of Chinese math. The inflation figures remain high. On MSNBC, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) tried to blame social media misinformation, only to be interrupted by breaking news that those figures were higher than projected. 

Advertisement

We’re a part-time economy unless you’re an illegal alien—then life is like wine and roses. But the commercial real estate crisis is looming, and Manhattan recently set a record for empty office spaces, which should concern us all (via NY Post): 

Big Apple office buildings have never been so empty. 

While the peak era of remote work may feel long ago in the past, the number of vacant offices in Manhattan just hit a new record. 

The borough’s office availability rate -– or, how much of that market is currently unfilled — hit 18.1% in the first quarter of 2024, the highest rate ever recorded. That’s according to a recent report by investment management company Colliers, Crain’s first reported. 

In contrast, that number, which includes currently empty offices and those that will be empty in the very near future, was just 10% back in March 2020. The majority of the 8% vacancy increase that has occurred since then happened between 2020 and 2022. 

“We are still waiting for demand to catch up and surpass supply,” Colliers Executive Managing Director Franklin Wallach told Crain’s. “It’s still the early innings of 2024, and there are both a fair number of large leases pending and a large number of tenants in the market. But we also anticipate some large blocks of space to be added.” 

Downtown is hurting the most, according to Colliers, with the Financial District the most forsaken of commercial markets. 

Advertisement

As we noted last summer, it’s not just the banks who are on the hook—we have individuals and pension funds that have invested in commercial real estate through what has been dubbed “alternative investment" opportunities. With inflation and interest rates chipping away at the worth of these assets and the possibility of loans being called, our country is barreling toward a situation where a Troubled Asset Relief Program will be needed to stop the bleeding.  

It was already a pain passing that in 2008. I don’t even want to think about the hurdles with this Congress. San Francisco is facing a similar devaluation in its commercial real estate properties. Like New York, it’s experienced strategic foreclosures. One way to avoid a potential collapse is to turn these spaces into apartments, which takes time. It might be too late. This is one of many areas where the economy is shaky. 

No, liberal America, things are not all right.  

Advertisement

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement