Dive Brief:

• More offices are currently under construction in New York City than at any time over the past 25 years, according to a report by the New York Building Congress.

• By 2016, 19 new buildings encompassing 9.7 million square feet of office space will be built, the report said, but that much of the property won’t be open until 2018. Still, the pace of construction puts the city on track to add almost 30 million square feet of new office space by 2020.

• More than 80% of that space will be in Manhattan, leaving a dearth of much-needed offices in Brooklyn and Long Island City, Building Congress President Richard Anderson said in a statement. “Despite efforts in recent years to spur office construction in business districts outside Manhattan’s commercial core, Manhattan remains the only truly viable option for most companies,” Anderson said.

Dive Insight:

The city was primed for an office-construction boom by healthy job growth, low interest rates and the availability of lots at the World Trade Center and Hudson Yards sites, according to the report.

“After years of planning and upfront investment, the vision of a new World Trade Center and Hudson Yards are coming to fruition and in a big way,” Anderson said.

Still, he added, “Even beyond those two mega-projects, it is obvious that the development community is bullish on New York City’s commercial future.”

The rush to build isn’t as heated as it was between 1968 and 1973, however, when 72 million square feet of office space was created, the report noted. But upcoming production will far outpace the 22.3 million feet created between 2000 and 2009.