If you are looking to start a business, or have a growing business, in the New York City region, this is a great time to move up to a great office space. The prime real estate market is in turmoil as large employers are cutting back and they need less space. The excess office space is now being sublet, that is re-rented, at amazing discounts.

Imagine getting prime real estate in Manhattan for one third off what people were paying just 2 years ago. That is what the experts is saying is going on, and as layoffs are continuing, the rents may continue to tumble.

So for those looking to expand, this could be a golden opportunity to get some prime office space in the heart of Manhattan.

But real estate experts say the main way sublandlords are competing with office space that is available directly from building owners — often within the same building — is by slashing rents.

Robert Sammons, the managing director in charge of research at Colliers ABR, said that sublet space in trophy office towers along Madison Avenue and Park Avenue has been leasing for as little as one-third of what that space might have commanded in early 2008, at the height of the roaring market.

“A year and a half ago, this space might have leased for $150 per square foot,” Mr. Sammons said, while he has heard of recent sublets in high-end buildings in this office corridor with annual rents of as little as $40 to $50 a r square foot. “This is the most remarkable turnaround in pricing that I’ve ever seen in such a short period of time.” via  NYTimes.com.

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