REBNY Report: Manhattan Office Visitations Average 67% of Pre-Pandemic Baseline in February

Overall performance is one percent above January and visitations would have been 70% excluding President’s Day week

NEW YORK, NY –The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) today released its latest monthly analysis of Placer.ai location data in 350 Manhattan office buildings for February 2025. This report tracks mobile data of office tenants and their employees, and, where applicable, also reflects the presence of office visitors and retail customers and employees within those buildings.

According to the report, Manhattan office buildings in February 2025 had an average visitation rate of 67% of 2019 baseline levels, up from 66% the previous month and unchanged from one year ago. Excluding President’s Day week, the rate would have been 70%.

In line with previous months, Class A+ buildings surged ahead with an average visitation rate of 81%, one percent higher than the previous month and year, and 85% if excluding the holiday week. Class A/A- buildings averaged 63% during February, equal to the previous month but down two percentage points year-over-year. At a 66% building visitation rate, Class B/C space is up one percent from the previous month and year.

Looking at trends by submarket, visitations averaged 70% in Midtown, 68% in Midtown South and 59% Downtown. How these results compare year-over-year and from January varies marginally in both positive and negative directions.

This report includes new monthly ratio findings, which tries to pinpoint the momentum of the market by outlining the difference between the number of buildings with positive and negative monthly visitation rate movement. The ratio of buildings with an increase in monthly visitation during February (234), to those with a decrease (106) was 2.21 – nearly two properties with an increase for every property with a decrease. In January the ratio was 0.55.

“Manhattan office building visitations in February saw a slight bounce back from the previous month but are in line with historic trends that show lower visitation totals early in the year,” said Keith DeCoster, Vice President of Research at the Real Estate Board of New York. “As the market continues to stabilize, REBNY intends to include new findings in these monthly reports going forward, which we hope give stakeholders nuanced insights to help drive office performance back to pre-pandemic levels for the benefit of our economy and tax base.”

The February 2025 and a detailed special report released in April 2025 with new visitation metrics and insights can be found here: https://www.rebny.com/research-and-reports/.

The buildings analyzed in these reports include a representative sample of various types of office buildings. Buildings that were not completed by 2019 are not factored in this report or in the 2025 average visitation rates.

The report analyzes mobile data provided by Placer.ai from geo-fenced buildings, including multiple phones carried by individual visitors. This has no impact on building visitation rates, as the same possibility of individuals carrying multiple phones exists in 2025 and the 2019 baseline.

Findings in these reports include visitation data with a minimum dwell time of seven minutes. In turn, data may include some visitors other than office employees such as building maintenance staff, visitors attending company meetings, as well as visitors to retail at the base of an office building. This visitation rate captures the broader economic impact and use of office buildings.

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ABOUT THE REAL ESTATE BOARD OF NEW YORK

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is the City’s leading real estate trade association. Founded in 1896, REBNY represents commercial, residential, and institutional property owners, builders, managers, investors, brokers, and salespeople; banks, financial service companies, utilities, attorneys, architects, and contractors; corporations, co-partnerships, and individuals professionally interested in New York City real estate. REBNY conducts research on various civic matters including tax policy, city planning and zoning, rental conditions, land use policy, building codes, and other city, state, and federal legislation. REBNY regularly publishes market data, policy reports, and broker surveys. In addition, REBNY provides for its members: informational, technical, and technological resources; networking and charitable service opportunities; qualifying and continuing education courses; professional education programs, seminars, and designations; career-changing awards; legal advice; and a wide range of additional member benefits. For more information, please visit www.rebny.com.