Pre Shakeout Rumbles
So there seems to be a lot of talk in the brokerage community about office rents declining for big blocks of space in trophy buildings in the Plaza District. On one hand, this seems to be caused by the migration of firms leasing large blocks of space to Hudson Yards. On theother side of the spectrum you have the "WeWork Effect" - where free rent deals being offered on longer term leases are unheard of. In fact, nobody quite gets how they can offer 1 year free on a 2 year lease - but that seems to be the way they are spending their cash. This is not to say they aren't incredibly good and creative at what they do - clearly they are the top of the market for Coworking space...it's just as the Elephant in the room they are creaking the floor boards for everyone else.
In fact, the breathtaking deals being offered by WeWork, are actually depressing the market a bit in the shared office and office sublease space. While it doesn't directly cater to Baby Boomer private office users, it does seem to take some of the overall "pressure" out of the marketplace which in part can be seen in the general slowness of today's market. The pace of individual office rentals has been less than brisk in the past 6-months, but we do our best to help you get your offering seen in a very crowded vertical marketplace on Google.
If you have offices available for sublease, it might be time to think about lowering pricing or increasing concessions. For example, we're seeing more and more free rent packages being offered in Executive Business Centers - and that is always a good barometer of what is happening in the overall market.
So where is the shakeout? Well, its clear that things have been a bit too exuberant for too long on the landlord side of the equation. It just can't stay this good much longer - it feels a bit unnatural. Anyway, we think the shakeout will be caused by the explosion of new space from new construction and renovation in Manhattan. There's going to be a long hard pull to the west and Hudson Yards and it is going to leave many large blocks of "old maid" space that doesn't fit the current tenant standard requirements.
Now, more than ever, if your law firm has offices for sublease, you need a professional platform to make your available offices visible to the marketplace, and LookingForSpace.com is exactly what you need. And now, if you enter a new listing online (except in Manhattan, Chicago, Los Angeles and Orange County) your submission will be for FREE!
Get a full page, search engine optimized online advertisement with unlimited text and photos FOR FREE (for a limited time). To add your free listing just choose your "Market" and click the "Add Your Listing" link at the top of any page, to the right of our Logo (Sorry, Free service not offered in Manhattan, Chicago, Los Angeles or Orange County). This will bring you to the beginning of the Add Free Listings process and you should be finished and online in less than 10 minutes. Remember, at least 1 photograph is required...and if you really don't have photos of your space you can cheat by uploading a .jpg of your company logo to be displayed in your listing presentation.
Why are we offering Free Listings? By the end of the year we will be introducing our new website, which we've been working on feverishly behind the scenes. It will have some interesting new functionality and we want to "bulk up" our database in areas where the inventory is currently a bit thin, before the new product launch.
LookingForSpace.com is a paid advertising database for lawyers looking for individual offices for sublease in the premises of larger law firms with extra offices. We provide service to both sides of the table and do our best to treat every advertiser and every renter with the respect they deserved. The individual office sublease customer and landlord have traditionally been underserviced by the commercial real estate industry and we are offering you a way to get professional brokers involved in your search for space or quest for new tenants. And, for a limitied time, the service is FREE in most places (exceptions apply).
Today, you should be seeking the best way to advertise your extra offices to other attorneys who are looking for space. No matter where you are (within reason near major urban hubs) we will probably have someone looking for shared legal office space in your area. It doesn't always happen quickly - but if you're patient, you'll usually be successful renting or licensing extra offices within your firm's premises.
We can help you with FREE technical and creative support at any point in your listing's lifetime. Please call us if you need anything: 212 986 9100