Financial SMEs helping to boost Manhattan's office leasing market

New York

NEW YORK'S financial industry has returned to lead the city's office leasing, after years of being hobbled by the credit crisis. This time, it's not the biggest banks that are driving the market.

Private equity and advisory firms are expanding, helping to push Manhattan's office-vacancy rate to the lowest in more than six years, even as large global companies scale back. PJT Partners Inc, led by former Morgan Stanley executive Paul Taubman, is moving into bigger quarters on Park Avenue. Fortress Investment Group LLC increased its space by a third this year.

Growth by small and midsized financial firms, combined with ongoing demand from the technology, media and advertising industries, has helped push up rents and create what may be Manhattan's strongest office market since the 2008 crash. While banks, insurers and law firms signed some of this year's l…