Race for Space

A roadmap to lease 50 million square feet of office space in New York City by the end of 2025.

In 2025, the Adams Administration unveiled “Race for Space,” a comprehensive strategy to revitalize and reimagine office space across the five boroughs and double down on a commitment to bringing New York City’s economy back by creating thousands of new jobs for working-class New Yorkers. Race for Space would attract both national and international companies—large, well-known businesses and growth-stage companies in search of large commercial space—at offices, advance an ambitious goal of 50 million square feet by end of 2025, and create thousands of jobs over the next three years.

Race for Space programming complements the mission of the NYCEDC Business Development team: to attract relocating and expanding businesses to New York City, and to connect these growing firms to the city’s unmatched resources.

Race for Space contains several programs that will create jobs, attract talent, and address the city’s vacant office space:

• Launching a pilot “Relocation Assistance Credit for Employees” program (RACE), which will incentivize out-of-state companies to move to New York City and sign leases for at least 20,000 square feet of space at qualifying office buildings. Under this new program, the Adams Administration is targeting 15 new anchor tenants by the end of 2025, activating over 800,000 square feet of office space and bringing an additional 3,000 jobs to New York City.
• The existing Relocation and Employment Assistance Program (REAP) incentive program will also be extended for an additional five years. REAP offers business income tax credits for relocating jobs from outside of New York City or below 96th Street in Manhattan to designated locations above 96th Street in Manhattan or in one of the other four boroughs.
• Creating a new International Landing Pad Network, which will support growth-stage international companies in their expansion to New York City, attract new sources of innovation and investment, and grow jobs for New Yorkers.
• Opening a new application round for the Manhattan Commercial Revitalization Program (M-CORE) program through May 1, 2025. M-CORE aims to convert up to 10 million square feet of aging and vacant office space to amenity rich, high-quality office space that meets the demands of the current workforce.

This comprehensive strategy meets the challenge of vacant office space across the city directly with a range of bold tools to attract new and growing businesses to New York City, while also renovating existing commercial spaces.