2011.04.11 EDA Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

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