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Square Feet- ForTightTimes;Office,Space on Flexible Terms NY... http://www.nytimes.com/2009701/2l/business/2Isuites.html?_r—l&a:.. <br /> at Xew CoA Tim to <br /> This copy is for your personal,noncommercial use only.You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution to <br /> your colleagues;clients or customers here or use the"Reprints"tool that appears next to any article.Visit NO'N PLAYING <br /> www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information.Order a reprint of this article now. <br /> January 2t,2oo9 <br /> SQUARE FEET <br /> For Tight Times, Office Space on Flexible Terms <br /> By JANE L. LEVERE <br /> Despite New York City's depressed economy,there is a flurry of activity in at least one niche of the real <br /> estate industry: business center companies,also often known as executive suites. <br /> Since the middle of last year,such companies—which rent out furnished office space on a short-term <br /> basis,offering services like a receptionist, mail delivery and telephone-call answering and screening— have <br /> opened new facilities in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn,the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan <br /> and in One and Five Penn Plaza, near Penn Station in Manhattan. <br /> Two floors of suites are to open this month at 1515 Broadway,a 54-story office building in Times Square. <br /> And the Regus Group,a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, is adding two Manhattan sites, <br /> bringing its total to 18. It is investing $5 million on new centers at loo Church Street and 1501 Broadway. <br /> The former is opening this month,and the latter in the second quarter of the year. <br /> Industry officials and observers say business centers— which vary widely in terms of furnishings,services <br /> provided and rents charged—are ideal for displaced or downsized businesses or start-up companies <br /> seeking space without long-term leases. But they also say the timing of the opening of New York's new <br /> business centers is unrelated to current economic conditions; most have been planned for a while. <br /> Renting an executive suite is a"very,very easy way to do business if you need only one or two offices,"said <br /> Kathy Donohue,president of PowerSpace and Services,which runs the new business center in One Penn <br /> Plaza and is a subsidiary of Vornado Realty Trust."You don't have to lay out capital; the infrastructure is <br /> set up; you can lock the door and not worry." <br /> John Humphrey,a co-founder and co-owner of Sustainable Energy Partners,a clean-energy consulting <br /> firm based in San Francisco, recently set up a New York office in Green Desk,the business center in <br /> Dumbo. He and another consultant occupy a too-square-foot space,which is furnished but has no door,for <br /> which he pays$70o a month. <br /> Green Desk"really simplified the process of opening an office," Mr. Humphrey said."Sizing is flexible — if I <br /> grow, I can move into a larger space.And they handle office stuff,like receiving packages and making sure <br /> the Internet and phone work." <br /> D. Edward Bungert,a vice president of World-Wide Business Centres and president of the Office Business <br /> Center Association of New York,estimates Manhattan has 6o to 65 business centers, run by some 25 <br /> companies and generating annual revenue of$10o million.All of these numbers are up from two or three <br /> years ago,he said,when revenue totaled about$75 million to $8o million. <br /> I of 3 4/8/2011 11:26 AM <br />