Manhattan Office Vacancy Rate Climbs to 13.1 Percent, Worst Since 1996

The Manhattan office market, according to a new report, hasn't looked this bleak since Barack Obama was a community organizer with designs.

Both the overall Manhattan commercial vacancy rate and the vacancy rate for top-shelf, Class A properties in midtown are the highest since 1996, according to Colliers ABR's May market report (PDF). Overall vacancy rose to 13.1 percent last month, the highest since December 1996. And the Class A midtown vacancy rate rose to...