Brown Harris Stevens
Jan 25, 20211 min
By David Bibian
With New York City hit hard by the pandemic, making real estate deals during the last year has come with new challenges. However, what I have learned during this time is that the downturn of retail and commercial space brings new opportunity for brokering great deals in prime locations.
My clients, a middle-market manufacturer for sliding doors based in California, asked me to find them a new flagship showroom after they learned that the retail market in NYC had taken a hit. The shift in the market opened up the possibility of finding a large space in a great location, at a reduced price.
Ready to move from their Fifth Avenue showroom, my clients were hoping to find a location within walking distance to trains, specifically Penn Station. Their existing landlord offered concessions to convince them to stay, but my clients weren’t satisfied with a few ongoing issues, such as the building’s scaffolding, which was making the showroom darker.
As I canvassed the streets for retail space to fit my clients’ needs, I found that many retail spaces were so desperate to find tenants in the current market that they were accepting offers at a 30% reduction from regular market price. I was able to find my clients a 2,400-square-foot space in prime Chelsea and negotiated the price from $16,000 to $12,500. We locked the deal within two weeks.
Now is the time to jump on the retail market’s deals.