Business

MANHATTAN GETS TASTE OF REAL ESTATE CRUNCH

The credit crunch that’s been roiling the stock market is now starting to put a chill on Manhattan’s red-hot commercial rental market.

The potential for crisis is particularly acute because financial-services firms, which account for one-third of such space, could drive prices lower across the board, according to a report today in Crain’s New York Business.

In a sign of what might be more to come if the financial crisis spreads, Lehman Brothers last week opted not to take an additional 70,000 to 80,000 square feet at 399 Park Ave.

Meanwhile, GVA Williams, for instance, started negotiating for an office lease in Midtown a couple of months ago for about $60 a square foot. But now the parties are looking at something in the low-$50s range, GVA Vice Chairman Mark Friedman told Crain’s.

What’s more, the cooling off of the market is happening at a time when bankers are requesting – and getting – more equity from buyers.

As The Post’s Lois Weiss reported this month, one broker said a buyer on a $100 million deal copped out after talking with “40 banks” because he couldn’t put down the 40 percent of the cost the banks demanded.

Such conditions may be short-lived, however, with some bankers telling borrowers they are taking a breather until after Labor Day when they will reassess the situation.

Indeed, most real-estate insiders are upbeat that the financial crisis will blow over, according to the Crain’s report.

Cushman & Wakefield reported the office vacancy rate in Manhattan was running at a low 5.3 percent at the end of June.

At a vacancy rate of 8 percent – a level brokers say evens things up between tenants and landlords – more than 40,000 jobs would be in jeopardy. More pressure could come as financial service firms start laying off employees and subleasing the excess space.