Not anymore.
Mayor Adams dropped $402 million on the “Future of Fifth” redesign, and the intrigue is palpable. After decades of brokering deals on these blocks, I can tell you this feels like Manhattan’s next Hudson Yards moment—except the infrastructure is already there.
Institutional investors have taken notice. Since 2022, $3.9 billion in Fifth Avenue deals have closed before a single shovel hits the ground.
It’s a logical bet. When construction begins in 2028, this 200-year-old corridor will be well on its way to becoming a pedestrian-first, world-class boulevard—on par with Paris’s Champs-Élysées or London’s Regent Street.
I’ve seen this movie before. The skeptics, the early believers, the mad rush once everyone realizes what’s happening. The difference? This time, I’m telling my clients to get ahead of the curve.
What Walking Fifth Avenue Will Actually Feel Like
Picture five years from now. You step out of your Plaza District office building onto a Fifth Avenue feeling more like a European boulevard than a Manhattan traffic gauntlet. Your morning coffee run doesn’t involve dodging taxis or squeezing past tourists. Instead, you stroll down tree-lined sidewalks that have room to breathe. Sounds too good to be true? Here’s precisely how the city plans to pull it off.
Your Sidewalk Will Get a Major Upgrade
Fifth Avenue’s sidewalks will nearly double in size, expanding from 23 feet to roughly 33.5 feet on each side. That translates to about 25 feet of clear walking space—enough room that you won’t have to play human Tetris during lunch hour.
The real game-changer? An 8½-foot buffer zone between you and traffic that will house 230+ new street trees and over 20,000 square feet of landscaping. Think of it as Manhattan’s version of a green wall, except it actually works. The city’s throwing in benches, upgraded lighting, and underground stormwater features because, apparently, they’ve decided comfort and climate resilience can coexist with concrete.
Cars Lose, Pedestrians Win (Finally)
Here’s where it gets interesting: vehicular lanes drop from five to three. Before you panic about gridlock, consider this—70% of Fifth Avenue’s users are already pedestrians. Yet, sidewalks currently occupy only 46% of the street width. The math was never adding up.
Crosswalks will shrink by over 30%, which means you’ll spend less time standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue wondering if that cab sees you. Two lanes will remain for cars and transit, including a dedicated bus lane because the city hasn’t completely lost its mind.
City Hall projects their $400 million investment will pay for itself in roughly five years through higher tax revenue from increased foot traffic. Translation: more people walking means more people spending, which means more money in city coffers.
The Nuts and Bolts (Literally)
The city plans to upgrade underground utilities first—sewer, water, the works—so they can handle trenching and street work simultaneously. Smart move, considering nobody wants to redo a beautiful new boulevard because someone forgot about the 100-year-old water main underneath.
Schematic design wraps up by summer 2025, with street-level construction starting in early 2028. Adams earmarked an extra $250 million on top of the $152.7 million already allocated to fully fund the $402 million project.
The inspiration? Paris’s Champs-Élysées, London’s Regent Street, Tokyo’s Ginza—plus Fifth Avenue’s own Art Deco architecture. Apparently, the city finally realized they were sitting on world-class bones that needed world-class presentation.
The Office Buildings That Make This Corridor Worth Betting On
Here’s what separates smart real estate moves from lucky ones: knowing exactly what you’re spending money on. Beyond getting prettier sidewalks, the Fifth Avenue corridor between Bryant Park and 59th Street is home to some seriously impressive office inventory that’s about to get much more valuable. We’re talking trophy Art Deco towers, freshly renovated Beaux-Arts gems, and new developments that developers wouldn’t dare build unless they smelled serious money.
The Boutique Champions
Sometimes the best addresses come in perfectly sized packages. These two gems prove you don’t need massive floorplates to land serious prestige. Moreover, both buildings attract tenants who understand that sometimes the sweet spot lies between boutique charm and corporate credentials.
511 Fifth Avenue
- Floor Plates: Right-sized at 8,000 square feet—ideal for companies wanting a trophy address without paying for wasted space
- Recent Upgrades: Fresh 2023 renovation added a 9,000-square-foot amenity floor complete with juice bar, tenant lounge, gym, and shower facilities
- The Best of Both Worlds: Preserved the historic limestone facade while completely modernizing the guts—new mechanical systems, elevators, everything
689 Fifth Avenue
- Floor Options: Flexible sizing from 2,500 to 8,000 square feet for companies that want options
- Trophy Credentials: Vornado’s upgrades earned LEED Gold, Energy Star, and BOMA 360 certifications—the holy trinity of building excellence
- Premium Details: Completely refreshed office lobby, refurbished elevators, and dramatic exterior lighting that makes a statement after dark
- Retail Pedigree: Canada Goose and Yamaha anchor the ground floor—brands that don’t settle for second-tier locations
The Heavy Hitters
When you need serious square footage with serious street cred, these towers deliver both scale and sophistication for companies that need room to grow without compromising on prestige.
745 Fifth Avenue (U.S. Rubber Building)
- Floor Variety: Massive 24,000-square-foot floorplates on lower levels that taper to intimate 3,500 square feet at the top
- Historic Charm: Original Art Deco lobby survived the modernization because some things are too beautiful to destroy
- Modern Perks: 24/7 access, cutting-edge IT infrastructure, fitness facilities, and rooftop terraces for those crucial brainstorming sessions
- Green Credentials: LEED Gold and Fitwel certifications prove you can be both prestigious and responsible
660 Fifth Avenue (Formerly 666 Fifth)
- Massive Scale: 39 stories and 1.25 million square feet of pure Class A space
- Floor Power: Floorplates stretch beyond 60,000 square feet for companies that think big
- Vote of Confidence: Citadel pre-leased 504,000 square feet across 20 floors—hedge fund giants don’t make bad real estate bets
500 Fifth Avenue (Salmon Tower)
- Block Domination: Owns an entire city block at 42nd Street with 60 floors reaching skyward
- Heritage Status: 660,000 square feet wrapped in landmarked Art Deco elegance
- Location Premium: Prime positioning where Midtown energy meets architectural history
10 Bryant Park
- Smart Combination: 863,000 square feet of sleek modern office space built around a restored early-1900s Knox Building
- Best of Both Eras: Contemporary efficiency meets century-old craftsmanship in one address
712 Fifth Avenue
- Vertical Reach: 52 stories and 545,000 square feet of Manhattan real estate
- Perfect Sizing: Floorplates between 9,100 and 13,000 square feet hit the sweet spot for growing companies
- White-Glove Service: 24/7 concierge, high-speed elevators, and LEED Gold certification keep tenants happy and productive
What’s Coming Next
Fifth Avenue already delivers depth, quality, and variety. The pipeline takes all of that and cranks the volume to eleven. Developers are placing massive bets on the corridor’s future with projects that completely reimagine what office space can be.
520 Fifth Avenue
- Exclusive Offerings: Just 25 full-floor offices ranging from 6,000 to 12,000 square feet—scarcity breeds desirability
- Luxury Details: 12-foot+ ceilings and private terraces on every floor because corner offices are so last decade
- Target Market: JLL markets these to trophy tenants hunting for something genuinely unique in a sea of standard floorplates
570 Fifth Avenue
- Developer Confidence: Extell’s proposed 29-story tower spans 1.4 million square feet—you don’t build that big unless you know demand is real
- Mixed-Use Strategy: Office floors stacked above a two-story IKEA showroom, proving retail and corporate can coexist beautifully
- Market Signal: When developers commit to projects this massive, they’re betting on Fifth Avenue’s continued evolution
What You Can Actually Lease Right Now
The buildings look impressive on paper, but what can you get your hands on today? The Fifth Avenue corridor offers something most Manhattan markets can’t: serious options without the sticker shock. Whether you need 2,500 square feet for a boutique operation or 24,000 square feet for a major expansion, the math works better here than you’d expect—especially considering what’s coming down the pipeline.
Why The Numbers Game Works in Your Favor
Fifth Avenue office rents still trail Park and Sixth Avenue, so you can secure prime real estate before everyone else figures out the arbitrage. Effective rents average around $65.40 per square foot on Fifth Avenue between 34th and 60th Street—well below the roughly $84 per square foot on Sixth Avenue or $88 per square foot on Park Avenue.
Midtown asking rents are also about $83 per square foot, while availability hovers around 15-16% (Manhattan overall sits at 16.1%). Fifth Avenue typically runs in that range or slightly tighter since several big leases were recently signed. Sublease space remains modest at only 3.2% of Midtown inventory compared to 3.6% across Manhattan, which explains why fewer tenants are bailing on their commitments here.
Sensible Size Options
Forget the one-size-fits-all approach. Fifth Avenue delivers everything from intimate spaces to massive floor plates, depending on what your business needs. Older mid-block buildings like 275 Madison offer floors ranging from 2,500 to 8,000 square feet—perfect for law firms, financial advisors, or startups/creative agencies that want presence without waste.
The newer towers flip the script entirely. Lower floors at 745 Fifth Avenue stretch to roughly 24,000 square feet, while some buildings offer full floors around 20,000 square feet for tenants ready to make a statement. Renovated and new buildings typically deliver bright, column-free layouts with the flexibility to design around your actual workflow rather than forcing your team into awkward configurations.
Tenants can choose between buildings with extensive in-house amenities or properties that leverage the neighborhood’s café and gym options. The corridor gives you options that bigger markets simply can’t match.
The Market Has Already Turned the Corner
Office leasing rebounded hard. Manhattan’s Q1 2025 leasing volume hit 7.9 million square feet—the strongest performance since 2019. Midtown alone captured 4.85 million square feet, running 47% above its five-year average. Tech companies, financial firms, law practices, and media organizations have taken space throughout the corridor.
Landlords report healthy inquiry pipelines, and the combination of dropping sublease availability with steady rent levels points toward consistent upward pricing pressure. Translation: the deals available today won’t be available tomorrow.
The corridor currently offers classic low-rise buildings, modern high-rises, and repositioned loft spaces at asking rates roughly in line with—or slightly below—Midtown’s Class A average. Smart tenants are locking in space now before the boulevard transformation kicks rental rates into a different league entirely.
What Happens After 2028 (Spoiler: Your Rent Goes Up)
Smart tenants think three moves ahead. Right now, you can lock in Fifth Avenue space at today’s prices while everyone else waits to see what happens. Here’s what the data tells us about demand, pricing, and tenant experience once the boulevard transformation wraps up—and why waiting might cost you more than you think.
- Rent Arbitrage Disappears Fast: Fifth Avenue’s current discount to Park Avenue won’t survive the redesign. Industry leaders expect the beautified boulevard to pull Fifth’s rents up toward those premium levels, especially for trophy space with the new streetscape views.
- Landlords Start Spending Big on Upgrades: The redesign triggered a renovation arms race. Buildings like 511 Fifth completed gut renovations with top-floor amenities and modern systems in 2023. Expect lobby overhauls, tech retrofits, and amenity additions across the corridor as owners compete for the post-2028 tenant pool.
- New Development Pipeline Targets Premium Tenants: Extell broke ground on a 29-story office tower at 570 Fifth with roughly 637,000 square feet of Class A space, complete with a gym, pool, and basketball court, due by 2028. Developers don’t build amenities like that unless they target tenants willing to pay premium rents.
- Early Movers Lock in Tomorrow’s Value at Today’s Prices: Brokers recommend signing leases before 2028 to secure Fifth Avenue addresses at current rates. Companies planning long-term expansions can capture substantial upside by committing before the redesign drives market rents higher.
- Tax Revenue Projections Signal Rent Increases: The city expects the $402 million investment to pay for itself through increased tax revenue from higher foot traffic and business activity. Higher tax revenue requires higher assessed values, which translates directly to higher rents for tenants who wait.
The Bottom Line: Get In Before Everyone Else Figures It Out
Look, I’ve been doing this long enough to know when something big is brewing. Fifth Avenue’s 2028 makeover represents the kind of generational shift that either makes your career or leaves you explaining to clients why you missed it. The city just dropped hundreds of millions to turn this corridor into Manhattan’s next must-have address, and Fifth Avenue Association CEO Madelyn Wils is calling it a “historic investment” that will keep this street relevant for another 200 years.
When city officials start thinking in centuries, you know they’re thinking big.
Here’s what I tell every client asking about Fifth Avenue: you’re looking at a pre-transformation play while the numbers still make sense. Lock in your space now at today’s rents, then watch your address become exponentially more valuable as foot traffic explodes and market perception shifts.
Time flies, and Fifth Avenue, becoming a true pedestrian paradise and economic engine, will happen before you realize.
