By Jessica Roy 9/06/12 8:52am

Office Space

(Photo: Brownstoner)

San Francisco Landlords are Legit Busting Up Buildings in Order to Appeal to Startups

“This building would be great, but it just has too much…ceiling,” is a thing that some startup office seekers are apparently uttering in the trendier neighborhoods of San Francisco. The Wall Street Journal reports that landlords are straight up wrecking buildings to make them look “edgier,” “funky” and “fun.”

That means lots of exposed ceiling pipes, open floor plans and a kitchen stocked with organic juices and plastered with signs about the upcoming company-wide 5k. Also: a room for people to cry in, when your investors just don’t get it. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 8/29/12 11:10am

Real Estate Envy

Wave goodbye, folks. (Photo: flickr.com/jphilipg)

Tech Companies Condescend to Move to Midtown

With all the froth and flutter about New York City startups, it’s easy to forget they’re not special creatures, free from the tyrannical pressures of the real estate market. Today comes a reminder courtesy of The New York Times, which reports that many tech companies companies, rather than waste precious rocket fuel (i.e., capital), are electing to move north–to Midtown.

Oh, dear. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/16/12 9:55am

Office Space

205 Hudson St. via Trinity

Tech and Media Companies Accounted for 28 Percent of Manhattan Office Leases Last Year

Trinity Real Estate, a division of Trinity Church located near the World Trade Center site, has had a pretty good run. In the past 14 months, Trinity saw occupancy rise from 84 percent to 92 percent and watched rents ratchet up 26 percent. According to Crain’s, a big part of that growth is thanks to tech companies, or at least tech-driven startups like e-commerce site One Kings Lane, which is co-founded by Mark Pincus’s wife Alison Pincus, and moved into 205 Hudson St. in May.

Trinity owns 18 former industrial buildings in the Hudson Square area and startup types, it seems, dig the “loftlike spaces, with large windows and big floor plates.” But it’s not just Trinity:

Read More

By Guest Post 9/01/11 8:00am

Growing Pains

NYCTechLandscape

How to Find and Negotiate for Office Space in New York City as a Startup

This is a guest post by Michael Mandel, a commercial real estate advisor at Grubb & Ellis in New York City. He specializes in tech startups and data center transactions. His recent clients include eBay, Facebook, The Limited Stores, adap.tv, Verizon, Webair and Guardian Life.

So your startup has gotten too large for General Assembly, Dogpatch Labs, WeWork Labs, Betaworks, TechStars, or wherever you choose to incubate the next Facebook. You love the high tin ceilings, the wood floors, the exposed columns, and the proximity to the Ace Hotel, but it’s time to take off the training wheels and ride out on your own. This article is your definitive 900-words-or-less guide to making it in the big city. Read More