AI companies are leasing space in New York City at double the pace of last year, JLL reported. Leasing volume through March 31 already reached half of the full-year 2025 total, and the average lease size has more than doubled from 16,600 to 34,500 square feet.
Although it was superseded by a family office’s lease at 9 W. 57th St. for $327.50 per square foot, Nscale Global Holdings’ signing at One Vanderbilt briefly set a new ceiling for Manhattan office rents at $320 per square foot. “In New York, we’re seeing a concentration of more mature, well-funded AI companies that are beyond the product phase and actively building sales and go-to-market teams,” Benjamin Bass, vice chairman at JLL, told the New York Business Journal.
Accordingly, AI tenants in New York are leasing more space than current headcount requires, in anticipation of the hiring they expect to do, reported JLL. “As AI compresses business planning cycles to just 12-24 months, these firms are demanding flexible lease structures with built-in adjustment mechanisms and reconfigurable facilities.”
Pictured: 295 Fifth Ave., where Agentio signed a lease in March.
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