It wasn’t the best year ever for office leasing but with 28.2 million square feet in inked deals, it more than held its own. Now, executives are hopeful that volume picks up and rents stay strong despite numerous large tenants exiting Midtown and leaving big blocks behind.

Neil Goldmacher, Vice Chairman of Newmark Grubb Knight FrankHandout

According to Cushman & Wakefield, Manhattan leasing  dropped 14 percent from the banner 2014. There are 28.9 million square feet available with the majority, some 20.1 million feet, in Class A buildings. Of  that, 13.8 million feet is in Midtown.

The city’s overall vacancy rate is 8.5 percent but the average rent is $71.58, up 5 percent over last year.

Neil Goldmacher, a vice chairman at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, says the consensus is that leasing will slow a little more. “No one feels like it’s the same as last year,” he observed.

The city also has the largest new construction pipeline in almost 30 years with 18 million to 20 million square feet on its way into the skies. Of that just three projects — SL Green’s One Vanderbilt, L&L Holdings’s 390 Madison and its 425 Park — are in Midtown.

The decision in January by 21st Century Fox and the Post’s parent News Corp. to remain in Midtown and not move to a new Two World Trade Center took air from the sails of the overall market but made Midtown brokers sign with relief.

That’s because a dozen gorilla-sized tenants will be decamping from Midtown to both Lower Manhattan and Hudson Yards, and some brokers are worried about finding tenants to back fill those spaces.

The Post won’t abandon Sixth Avenue for a space at 2 World Trade.Handout

“In three years, One Vanderbilt, 390 and 425 will be full but the older buildings that are functionally obsolete will struggle,” predicted William Montana, senior managing director, Savills Studley.

Tara Stacom, Executive Vice Chairman, Cushman & Wakefield, still believes Sixth Ave. will infill as owners like the Rockefeller Group, Inc. , which owns 1271 Ave. of the Americas, reimagine their buildings. “It is perfect product as it is affordable, they are being renovated and the area has its own attraction,” she said.

Stacom is the leasing agent for Downtown’s 180 Maiden Lane, which is poised to fill up in 2016.

Margaret Egan, Senior Vice President of Clarion Partners, which owns 180 Maiden Lane with Murray Hill Properties, said, “Thus far we are having very good success in repositioning it, and we will continue to look at the market.”

Anchor tenants seek space four and five years ahead of time so those losing tenants have time to reposition their own building and secure equally large ones as they compete with the upcoming new supply.

Arthur Mirante, Tristate president of Avison YoungHandout

One future project, Joseph Moinian’s 3 Hudson Blvd., is seeing activity heating up after a pause last fall. “We can complete it for 2019 to 2020 so it is now at a competitive advantage and a sweet spot,” explained its agent Arthur Mirante, Tristate president of Avison Young, as potential anchor tenants will be at the end of current leases by then.

In early 2015, Rudin Management retained Publicis at 1675 Broadway with a 506,009 foot deal. “It was a great way to start the year off,” said Bill Rudin who heads the family company.

Now, he says, they are focused on marketing Dock 72 being built with Boston Properties at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This is the first ground up office building in that borough in decades. “It will have all the amenities needed to attract and retain employees,” Rudin said – and is among other spots in that borough angling to attract more tenants from Manhattan.

Tenants leaving behind Midtown spaces include Wells Fargo, which will move to 500,000 feet at 30 Hudson Yards. Ten Hudson Yards is almost ready for occupancy so L’Oréal will move from 575 Fifth Ave.

Time Warner and HBO will depart from the Time Warner Center and Grace Building  to Hudson Yards.

Time, Inc.’s moves to Brookfield’s 200 Liberty and Industry City in Brooklyn will leave 2 million square feet at 1271 Ave. of the Americas, which is already being renovated.

Skadden Arps signed the largest lease last year of 544,009 feet and will move to One Manhattan West from 4 Times Square – from which Conde Nast already decamped to 1 World Trade leaving 800,000 feet to fill.

Similarly, Citibank is relocating from 400,000 feet at 399 Park to its revamped Tribeca headquarters.

Now no longer of a boutique size, KKR is moving from 9 W. 57th to a hefty 343,000 feet at 30 Hudson Yards. KKR’s current Plaza District may see more openings as hedge fund and family fund executives are forsaking the Upper East Side and ‘burbs and enjoying urban life in Tribeca lofts.

Some are therefore starting to consider moving their firms from the Country Club buildings to the Meatpacking District.

860 Washington St.Rendering

Robert Emden, executive managing director, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, says, “They are not interested in the tech-type space; they want more upscale offices. But they don’t want to be the small fish in the big World Trade Center or Hudson Yards buildings.”

Emden and his son, David, a managing director at NGKF, moved Perceptive Advisors from 499 Park Ave. to 12,000 feet at 51 Astor Pl. in the East Village; and that building by the Bowery is full.

He believes the almost ready 860 Washington St. will become the “go to” spot in Meatpacking and will fill quickly.

Smaller firms are more nimble than the large ones so beneficiaries will be two upcoming office projects by Aurora which has joint ventures with both Vornado Realty Trust and William Gottlieb Real Estate.