July brings more modestly optimistic news for the city's commercial real estate industry, according to the latest report from brokerage Cassidy Turley.

Manhattan-wide vacancies are still dropping, down from May's 13.1 percent to 12.8 in June, marking the lowest amount of empty office space since at least April of last year. Downtown is faring better, with vacancies at 10.6 percent. Class A vacancies in midtown saw the biggest fall, from 13 to 12.4 percent.

"Signs of stabilization appeared to have continued in June—though all is not quite what it seemed," reads the report, as "a significant portion of the improvement was due to a large block of availability removed from the market." June's big block: 229 West 43^rd Street, the old New York Times building, which will soon be home to a bowling alley cum theme park, according to Curbed.

And while office rents continue to slide all over, Times Square and Grand Central have bucked the trend and seen small hikes.

ajulius@observer.com