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    Manhattan office leasing on track to hit highest volume since 2019

    Manhattan office leasing increased more than 20% in August compared with July to 3.7 million square feet, according to a new report from Colliers.
    If demand continues at the same pace for the remainder of 2025, Manhattan’s yearly volume would exceed 40 million square feet for the first time since 2019.
    At the end of August the average asking rent for Manhattan offices was $74.73 per square foot, an increase of 1% from July.

    Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images

    A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
    Manhattan office leasing increased more than 20% in August compared with July to 3.7 million square feet and was well above the 10-year monthly average of 2.72 million square feet, according to a new report from Colliers. If demand continues at the same pace for the remainder of 2025, Manhattan’s yearly volume would exceed 40 million square feet for the first time since 2019.

    Over the last 25 years, on average roughly 32 million to 33 million square feet were leased in a given year. In 2024, Manhattan returned to that average for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020.
    “That is a very strong market in terms of demand,” said Franklin Wallach, executive managing director for research and business development at Colliers.
    “Certainly a return to office is a part of that — and low unemployment. You also have a reemergence of some key industries that were a little quieter during the pandemic years, not that they ever went away, but tech in particular comes to mind,” Wallach said. 
    He pointed to over a million square feet of Manhattan office leasing by Amazon alone just since November 2024. That came in the form of leases, subleases and enterprise agreements with coworking spaces like WeWork, in addition to building purchases.

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    The legal sector is another prime example. In 2023 Manhattan saw a record year of law firm leasing activity – more than 4 million square feet. Last year was slightly lower, but still above 2019 levels. 

    “You also very much had flight to quality. New construction such as One Vanderbilt, Hudson Yards, Manhattan West, where availability has become very tight in that new product,” said Wallach.
    As a result, the supply, known as the “availability rate,” of newer office space, has dropped to 6.7% compared with the rate for older, prewar buildings, at 17%. Manhattan’s overall availability rate fell to 15%, the lowest since January 2021 and the 18th consecutive month that its availability rate remained stable or tightened.
    Of Manhattan’s three office subsectors, the availability rate tightened in Midtown, Midtown South and Manhattan overall during August while remaining stable downtown.
    At the end of August the average asking rent for Manhattan offices was $74.73 per square foot, an increase of 1% from July. Compared with March 2020, however, rents are still 6% lower. 
    “If you have a 1% increase during the month, that is a significant movement. Some of that is above-average-priced space coming onto the market, but we’ve also begun to see more landlords reprice their existing space higher,” said Wallach. 
    Office conversions are also having a major impact on both supply and pricing. Colliers tracked nearly 9 million square feet of office space removed from the Manhattan market over the last four years. That hits not just supply, but also demand and prices. 
    “We’ve seen, on average, that for every million square feet of office building slated for conversion, on average 270,000 square feet of leasing activity occurs because of the tenants coming out of that building and relocating to another building,” said Wallach. 
    In addition, the buildings being converted likely had below-average-priced space, including sublet space which is also lower priced. Their removal, therefore, increases the average price of the overall Manhattan market.  More

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    Kraft Heinz to split into two companies

    Kraft Heinz will split into two companies.
    The deal will reverse much of the $46 billion merger envisioned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and private equity firm 3G Capital.
    Shares of Kraft Heinz have slid roughly 60% since the merger closed in 2015.

    In this photo illustration, Kraft and Heinz products are shown on March 25, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.
    Getty Images

    Kraft Heinz will split into two companies, reversing much of the blockbuster $46 billion merger from a decade ago that created one of the biggest food companies in the world.
    The first of the two new companies, which are not yet named, will primarily include shelf-stable meals and will be home to brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia and Kraft mac and cheese. Kraft Heinz said that company on its own would have $15.4 billion in 2024 net sales, and approximately 75% of those sales would come from sauces, spreads and seasonings.

    Kraft Heinz said the second new company would be a “scaled portfolio of North America staples” and would include items such as Oscar Mayer, Kraft singles and Lunchables. That company will have approximately $10.4 billion in 2024 net sales.
    “Kraft Heinz’s brands are iconic and beloved, but the complexity of our current structure makes it challenging to allocate capital effectively, prioritize initiatives and drive scale in our most promising areas,” said Miguel Patricio, executive chair of the board for Kraft Heinz. “By separating into two companies, we can allocate the right level of attention and resources to unlock the potential of each brand to drive better performance and the creation of long-term shareholder value.”
    The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
    The deal that created Kraft Heinz in 2015 was the brainchild of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and private equity firm 3G Capital. While investors originally cheered the merger, the luster began to fade as the combined company’s U.S. sales faltered.
    Then came a disclosure in February 2019 that Kraft Heinz had received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to its accounting policies and internal controls. The company also slashed its dividend by 36% and took a $15.4 billion write-down on Kraft and Oscar Mayer, two of its biggest brands. Days later, Buffett told CNBC that Berkshire Hathaway had overpaid for Kraft.

    A leadership shakeup and more write-downs of iconic brands, like Maxwell House and Velveeta, followed. Kraft Heinz also began divesting some of its businesses, selling off most of its cheese unit to French dairy giant Lactalis and its nuts division, including the Planters brand, to Hormel.
    In recent quarters, the company has invested in boosting some of its brands, like Lunchables and Capri Sun. Despite turnaround efforts, shares of Kraft Heinz have slid roughly 60% since the merger closed in 2015.
    Current Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera will serve as chief executive of the new grocery staples-focused company after the separation. Kraft Heinz’s board has hired an executive search firm to find a CEO for the other company.
    The split comes as more big food companies pursue breakups to divest from slower-growth categories and impress investors again.
    In August, Keurig Dr Pepper announced that it will undo the 2018 deal that merged a coffee company with the 7 Up owner. Keurig Dr Pepper plans to separate after it closes its $18 billion acquisition of Dutch coffee company JDE Peet’s. And two years ago, Kellogg spun off its snacks business into Kellanova and renamed itself as WK Kellogg.
    — CNBC’s Michele Luhn contributed to this report. More

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    Crypto.com and Underdog partner to offer sports prediction markets

    Cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto.com and Underdog Sports, a fantasy sports and gaming company, are partnering to offer sports prediction markets in 16 states.
    Underdog is the first sports gaming operator to offer sports prediction trades.

    Crypto.com logo displayed on a phone screen with representation of cryptocurrencies.
    Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    Fantasy and sports gaming operator Underdog is partnering with Crypto.com to offer sports prediction markets in 16 states, mostly focused on where legal sports betting has not been adopted, the companies told CNBC on Tuesday.
    “Prediction markets are one of the most exciting developments we’ve seen in a long time, ” Underdog founder and CEO Jeremy Levine said on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” Tuesday. “While still new and evolving, one thing is clear — the future of prediction markets is going to be about sports — and no one does sports better than Underdog.”

    Underdog is the first sports gaming platform to enter the new and rapidly expanding prediction market industry, which is a modern chimera of financial trading and sports betting: Traders buy and sell the outcome of sporting events, but the odds change according to market movements, and there’s no bookmaker.
    Robinhood, Kalshi and Polymarket already offer sports events contracts.
    FanDuel, owned by Flutter, announced earlier this month that it would partner with the CME Group to offer financial events contracts. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has also told CNBC he’s interested in entering the fray.
    Sports events contracts could be especially lucrative for platforms that bypass state gaming regulators and tribal pushback.
    The nation’s most populous states, California and Texas, do not offer legal sports betting. In Florida, the third most populous state, the Seminole Tribe has a near monopoly on legal gambling through its Hard Rock casinos and sportsbooks.

    These markets remain inaccessible to legal sportsbooks, and the tribes have demonstrated a commitment to fending off what they consider to be a competitive threat to their sovereign rights.
    The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission and federal courts are still grappling with the question of whether sports predictions markets are sports gambling, as well as whether they encroach on states’ right to regulate sports gambling or if they violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
    Still, as Citizens gaming analyst Jordan Bender wrote in April, “prediction markets are too loud to ignore.”
    He estimated that the sports prediction market could generate $555 million this year. The legal online sports betting market generated about $16 billion in 2024, according to Bender.
    The sport events contracts will be provided by Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA) — an exchange that’s already registered with the CFTC — but hosted on Underdog’s platform and fueled by its technology, the companies said.
    “We were the first to offer sports events contracts, and our technology partnership with Underdog will provide more access to CDNA’s innovative offerings,” said Travis McGhee, managing director and global head of capital markets at Crypto.com. More

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    Political ad spending expected to hit new record, surpassing 2022 midterms by 20%

    Political ad spending during this midterm season is projected to be the most expensive on record, surpassing the 2022 cycle by roughly $2 billion.
    Spending on connected TV, gory, which covers any television that connects to streaming apps and services, is expected to grow significantly, becoming the fastest-growing media type.
    The midterm season has already seen a record early spending surge of roughly $900 million.

    (L-R) Mikayla Newton and Katerra Jones, reporters with the Prince George’s County during a news broadcast on May 15, 2025 in Largo, MD.
    Michael A. McCoy | The Washington Post | Getty Images

    Spending on political advertisements is projected to hit a new record, with this midterm season expected to reach a total of $10.8 billion, according to advertising company AdImpact.
    That number for the 2025-2026 midterm season makes it the most expensive midterm cycle in history, surpassing spending for 2021-2022, which clocked in at $8.9 billion, by more than 20%. And it’s inching close to AdImpact’s price tag for the 2024 presidential election cycle, which reached $11.2 billion.

    “We anticipate record spending across all race types due to the highly competitive national environment, with congressional spending specifically set to reach new heights,” the report said.
    The race to snag control of Congress this year remains close, as Republicans hope to hold onto their 53-47 majority in the Senate and their 219-212 majority in the House. Key races in battleground states could determine or flip those majorities.
    This cycle’s boost is largely expected to come from the connected TV, or CTV, category, which covers any television that connects to streaming apps and services. That spending will surge to $2.5 billion, AdImpact said, growing by 2% and earning a spot as the fastest-growing media type.
    Broadcast television is forecast to continue to hold the largest share of spending at 49%, and local cable and social media spending are expected to decline slightly, the report said. That comes even as legacy cable TV has been bleeding millions of subscribers each year as streaming takes over as the primary way the world watches television.
    “With $2.5 billion projected, CTV is now a core marketing strategy for 2026 campaigns, offering advertisers the ability to maximize both efficiency and overall reach,” said John Link, AdImpact’s senior vice president of data.

    The forms of media vary based on types of elections, though, with down-ballot campaigns more likely to invest in cable and radio than larger races, according to AdImpact.
    The most spending is expected to be in California, followed by Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina, all of which have highly competitive races this cycle. Advertising on Senate races is projected to reach $2.8 billion, while spending for House races is expected to surpass $2 billion for the first time ever as Republicans aim to hold onto their majority.
    The midterm season has also already seen a surge in early spending, AdImpact noted. Though the off-year spending typically only amounts to 10% to 15% of total spending, 2025 has already surpassed records, hitting roughly $900 million by Aug. 26. That’s 37% higher than the same point in 2023 and 58% higher than 2021.
    This season’s surge comes amid a particularly charged election cycle. Local elections have also garnered national attention and big spending, like the New York City mayoral race between Democratic nominee and state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which has raked in millions in campaign funds and capitalized on social media ads. More

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    Pickleball is just getting started in China

    Online sales of pickleball paddles and related equipment in China have skyrocketed by more than six times versus the first seven months of last year.
    Interest in tennis and pickleball in the Asian country accelerated last year and is “still doing very well” this year, according to McKinsey.
    Last weekend, the U.S.-based Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) held its first “Hong Kong Open” competition as part of the inaugural PPA Tour Asia.

    Sports club Suzhou Shishan opened the Chinese city’s first pickleball court in January 2024, according to the company.
    Suzhou Shishan

    BEIJING — While the U.S. pickleball craze is still going strong, China’s is only just getting started.
    Online sales of pickleball paddles and related equipment in China have skyrocketed this year to an average of $1.2 million in monthly sales as of July — an increase of more than six-fold versus the year-ago period.

    That’s according to data from WPIC Marketing + Technologies. The company helps foreign brands — such as Ohio-based food blender seller Vitamix and skincare brand iS Clinical from California — sell online in China and other parts of Asia.
    “Pickleball’s rise in China reflects a broader shift toward active lifestyles and recreational sports participation,” said Jacob Cooke, co-founder and CEO of WPIC.
    The racquet sport has been getting a lift from social media influencers and the resurgence of tennis in China, thanks in part to Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal in tennis singles last summer, Cooke said.

    Interest in tennis and pickleball in China started in 2023, accelerated in 2024 and is “still doing very well” this year, said Daniel Zipser, senior partner at McKinsey and leader of its Asia consumer and retail division. “We’re still now in the very strong acceleration growth momentum [period] for racquet sports more broadly.”
    He pointed out that locals are not just increasingly picking up the sport, but also watching professional games more.

    During the U.S.-based Professional Pickleball Association’s (PPA) first “Hong Kong Open” competition from Aug. 21 to Aug. 24, “there was actually a pretty big crowd that came out [to watch the] final gold medal matches,” said Patrick Yan, founder of The Brine Agency, which represents Asian pickleball players. “The entire tournament was maxed out and with a waitlist.”
    Yan also noted that the Hong Kong region now has many more pickleball courts compared to only two when he visited in December and January.
    The Hong Kong Open was part of the inaugural PPA Tour Asia that includes matches in Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.
    Jack Wong of Hong Kong won the men’s singles championship, while Roos van Reek of the Netherlands won in women’s singles. The PPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether a “China Slam” initially set for early October was moving ahead as planned.
    The PPA held its first U.S. pickleball tournament in Arizona in early 2020. The sport surged in popularity during the pandemic as communities quickly repurposed public spaces into free pickleball courts. Since then, pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the United States for four straight years, according to the latest Sports and Fitness Industry Association report in May.

    Business angle

    Pickleball’s recent growth in China has different business implications.
    In contrast to U.S. suburbs, big Asian cities don’t tend to have large neighborhood spaces, Yan pointed out. “All these courts have to be built by people running businesses. They’re operating for profit…. People started seeing it could be a huge profit, all these competing businesses and startups.”
    He added that the local pickleball tournament system is run by the national Chinese Tennis Association, making the sport’s development “quite systemized in comparison to other countries where it’s local organizations that have to organize and fund everything.”
    Lu Bing, deputy head of the Suzhou Pickleball Association, said he learned about pickleball from an American friend in 2023. Subsequently, the local Shishan sports club that he is general manager of opened several pickleball courts, where hourly fees start at 60 yuan ($8.39). He added that many local schools are also encouraging students to play the sport by repurposing basketball courts and other facilities, he said.
    Part of pickleball’s appeal in China is how easy it is for locals to learn the sport — some people still found tennis too hard after a few lessons at the sports club, he added.

    Challenges and opportunities

    While Lu said the club is an authorized sales partner for Joola, a U.S. pickleball brand, it’s less clear how easily other foreign brands and organizations can immediately tap into the trend.
    Despite China’s large potential compared to Vietnam and Malaysia, which are Asia’s largest pickleball markets, it can be difficult for foreign businesses to navigate the Asian giant’s market due to language barriers and the unique WeChat messaging app-based ecosystem, Yan said.
    “I know eventually probably some courts will go out of business and some will survive and take over the market in certain areas,” he said. “Because it’s so early into the market, a lot of people are trying to be the first mover basically.”
    The surge of consumer spending on pickleball and other sports in China comes as overall retail sales have been subdued since the pandemic.
    McKinsey’s Zipser said he’s “very confident” about a pickup in consumption in the second half of this year into 2026, as he thinks consumer spending is now more detached from depressed sentiment.
    “The last two years the consumer was just waiting for the good old days to be back,” he said, pointing to hopes for a recovery in the property market and broad double-digit growth.
    “People now have realized [that’s] not going to happen,” he said. “They’ve moved on. They’re no longer sitting there. … Life needs to go on.” More

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    America is escaping its office crisis

    For most people the covid-19 pandemic ended years ago. But not for commercial-property investors and their lenders. Working from home prompted an office slump that lasted far longer than mask mandates and lockdowns. Starting in 2022 aggressive interest-rate rises hurt the sector even more, by making mortgage loans far more expensive to roll over. The banks that financed it, especially the smaller ones, have been brutally squeezed as credit quality has deteriorated. More

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    The threat of deflation stalks Asia’s economies

    Just as the inflationary heat is rising again in America, much of Asia is feeling a chill. Leave aside the hotspots—Japan and Bangladesh—and the average rate across the continent’s ten biggest economies is a tame 1.3%. Consumer prices have fallen outright in China, the biggest of all, and in Thailand. Other Asian economies, including the Philippines, are not far from deflation. Even in inflation-prone India prices rose by just 1.6% in the year to July, the slowest rate since 2017. In some Asian economies inflation is within central bankers’ target ranges. But in five it is now below these, and even in on-target countries the trend is disinflationary. More

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    China’s Xi urges AI cooperation, rejects ‘Cold War mentality’ at SCO summit

    The meeting comes as China seeks to cast itself as a global peacemaker.
    Chinese President Xi Jinping briefly gathered with Modi and Putin ahead of his opening speech.
    Analysts said that China’s détente with India could help strengthen Beijing’s influence.
    China’s Xi also proposed a Global Governance Initiative at the SCO Summit.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers his opening remarks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin on Sept. 1, 2025.
    Evelyn Cheng

    TIANJIN, China — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to strengthen artificial intelligence cooperation, while rejecting what he called a “Cold War mentality.”
    Xi was speaking at the largest-ever summit of the SCO to date, with more than 20 foreign leaders gathered in Tianjin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The meeting comes as China seeks to cast itself as a global peacemaker, against a backdrop of persistent trade tensions with the United States, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
    Xi said China has invested $84 billion in other SCO countries and pledged support for 10,000 students to join Beijing’s “Luban” vocational education program. He added that the SCO gathering presents an opportunity to chart a new phase of high-quality development and cooperation.
    Ahead of his remarks, Xi briefly gathered with Modi and Putin during a photo session with all SCO members.

    Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (front L) speaks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) and China’s President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025.
    Alexander Kazakov | Afp | Getty Images

    Xi is expected to meet with Putin this week, with the Russian leader scheduled to stay in China for a military parade in Beijing to commemorate 80 years since the end of World War II.
    Over the weekend, Xi met with at least 10 visiting leaders, including Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet. On Saturday, he met Modi, with both sides affirming the importance of being partners, not rivals, according to official readouts.

    “A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion peoples on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the growth and development of the two countries,” India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement following the meeting.

    Global peacemaker?

    While it remains unclear if the SCO summit will pave the way for any breakthroughs in easing tensions, analysts said that China’s détente with India could help strengthen Beijing’s influence.
    “The improvement of relations with India is a big deal. It allows India to access highly critical intellectual property that it needs if it is to industrialize and boost manufacturing,” Marko Papic, chief strategist, GeoMacro Strategy BCA Access, said in an email.
    “But, over the long term, the U.S. is losing the propaganda battle to paint China as the trouble-maker-in-chief. And that only further ossifies multipolarity,” he said.

    Participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit 2025 pose for photos at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 1, 2025 in Tianjin, China.
    Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    China has taken some “initiative” for economic collaboration as well as peace, said Henry Huiyao Wang, founder and president of the Beijing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization. He also pointed to efforts by China and India to rebuild ties and said he hoped India and Pakistan would do the same.
    “[U.S.] President Trump is trying to make a lot of peace, but I think with the help of China, we could do the same too,” Wang said Monday on CNBC’s “The China Connection.”
    “China could take advantage of its good relations with Russia to help [broker] the deal for the Russian war in Ukraine,” Wang said, adding that the SCO, or members like China and India, could act as a guarantor for security.
    The SCO summit could lead to China building better relations with a slew of countries, Papic said.
    SCO leaders signed a “Tianjin Declaration” and approved a development plan for the organization for the next decade through 2035, according to Chinese state media. Details of the text were not immediately available, although the report said members adopted 24 documents on strengthening cooperation on security, the economy and “humanity.”
    China will also establish cooperation platforms on new energy, green industry and digital economy, as well as centers for tech innovation, higher education and vocational education, Xi announced during a Monday afternoon session.
    Later in the day, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said that the leaders agreed to launch the SCO Development Bank. He cast the financial institution as yet another multilateral bank. China has led the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is headquartered in Beijing.
    “Global governance must be achieved by coordination and cooperation, not by unilateral bullying,” Wang said in Mandarin, according to an official English translation, as he took a question about the Global Governance Initiative.

    New ‘Global Governance Initiative’

    Xi’s opening remarks during the Monday afternoon session included a proposal for a “Global Governance Initiative” without disclosing further details.
    It follows similar programs that Xi has announced in the last few years, such as the “Global Development Initiative” and “Global Security Initiative.” In late July, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced that the country has put forward an AI cooperation organization.
    “The Cold War mentality, hegemonism and protectionism remain,“ despite 80 years of peace and cooperation since the end of World War II, Xi said in Mandarin, according to an official English translation. “New threats and challenges are only increasing.”
    “Global governance has come to a new crossroads,” he said, urging “commitment to peaceful coexistence” without targeting third parties.
    In the context of calling for uniform application of the international rule of law, the Chinese president said: that “the house rules of a few countries should not be imposed upon others.”
    — CNBC’s Victoria Yeo contributed to this report More