SL Green Realty, Manhattan’s largest office landlord, said it’s seen a pickup in office leasing activity in the first three months of the year as it recently signed five new leases at a midtown property near the Grand Central Terminal transit hub.

The New York real estate investment trust inked four new deals and one renewal totaling 64,303 square feet at 485 Lexington Ave. between 46th and 47th streets, SL Green said in a statement. Asking rents were $63 per square foot, an SL Green spokesperson told CoStar News, adding the tenants will move in by the third quarter.

The leases, representing 7% of the gross leasable area of the 32-story building, are expected to boost the property’s occupancy to 87% from 80% in the past two years, according to a Morningstar report.

“Leasing activity has rapidly improved over the first three months of the year,” Steven Durels, SL Green’s executive vice president and director of leasing, said in the statement. “Our recent success at 485 Lexington confirms that well-located buildings are experiencing increased tenant demand.”

To be clear, SL Green’s leasing activity comes as various brokerage reports have shown Manhattan’s office market had a disappointing first quarter overall.

After reaching a record high of 18.2% in February, Manhattan's office availability rate ended the first quarter at 18.1%, a 0.2 percentage point increase from the fourth quarter, according to a Colliers report.

“Although demand was almost expected to drop after the fourth quarter, the level of activity seen in the beginning of 2024 was well below average,” said Franklin Wallach, executive managing director of research and business development for Colliers in New York. “Furthermore, supply continued to outpace demand with numerous sublet and value-play opportunities across the market.”

Here is additional information on the five leases SL Green signed at 485 Lexington Ave.:

• RSC Insurance Brokerage, a risk management consultancy and insurance broker, signed a new 10-year lease for the entire 17th floor spanning 27,964 square feet. The tenant was represented by Michael Gottlieb at Avison Young.
• Capital markets company William O’Neil & Co. signed a new five-year lease covering 4,797 square feet on a portion of the 30th floor. The tenant was represented by Brent Ozarowski and Kevin Sullivan of Newmark.
• Exponent, an engineering and scientific consulting firm, signed a new seven-year, 14,383-square-foot lease covering the entire 22nd floor. The tenant was represented by Peter Trivelas at Cushman & Wakefield.
• Graham Holdings, a diversified holding company, signed a new three-year lease covering 3,006 square feet on a portion of the seventh floor.
• Tegna, a broadcast, digital media and marketing services company, renewed its 14,078-square-foot lease on the entire 27th floor for an additional six years. The tenant was represented by Brad Auerbach of CBRE.

The landlord was represented by Paul Glickman, Diana Biasotti, Ben Bass, Kristen Morgan, and Kip Orban of JLL.