Third Ave outlook brightening, CBRE says

A CBRE report on the East Side District — 44 office buildings between the FDR Drive and Lexington Avenue and between East 34th to 67th Street found a brightening outlook for the area, following years of decline that started when COVID-19 struck.

CBRE identified a “significant transformation” as it evolved from an “office-centric” area to mixed use.

The ongoing or planned conversions to apartments of  a half-dozen buildings, four of them on Third Avenue, drove office tenants to other locations.

Partly as a result, availability fell from 25.3% in October 2022 to 18.1% in the first quarter of 2025.

Major renewals and expansions by firms such as Bloomberg LP and Kirkland & Ellis renewed confidence in the market.

“The district has seen some positive momentum due to increasing demand along with actions taken by owners to address oversupply,” CBRE found, and called it “a market primed for future growth.”