Many of our friends and clients now have excess office space in New York City which they are looking to sublet. We at Wharton Properties Advisors can help you based upon an innovative and successful strategy which we recently undertook to sublease 20,000 square feet of Class A space for a prestigious professional firm in the Plaza District. Using the following approach, we leased all the firm’s space in less than 2 months during the period from August to October. While the strategy was unconventional and different, it worked. Accordingly, we believe a similar approach may work for other companies looking to dispose of their excess space as well.
- First, we discarded the old traditional strategy of attempting to lease the full floor to one subtenant. In the current environment, finding a subtenant for a significant size space and a significant lease term at anything close to pre-Covid rents is impossible. Instead, we offered up the floor to all comers with complete flexibility in terms of the size and number of offices they needed.
- Second, we offered a flexible length of tenancy to the subtenants with the right to cancel on as little as 30 days’ notice if desired. Longer terms such as one year were available as well, with rights to renew. This was very attractive to tenants who are in no position to make longer-term plans now as they simply cannot develop informed future projections of revenues and/or earnings.
- Third, we offered reasonable (but not rock-bottom) prices which were competitive with the current market.
- Fourth, we offered a full package of office services such as conference rooms, reception, and other amenities at no extra charge.
Many companies and professional firms are in flux with changing needs. Our aggressive approach met the needs of those prospective subtenants who were unwilling to make long-term commitments while bringing in steady cash flow for the client.
While we were optimistic we could make some headway in filling the offices, we were very happily surprised that we were able to do so with such incredible speed. Obviously, the client is extremely pleased with the result.
Please feel free to contact Wharton Property Advisors to discuss your office situation. We are confident that we can design a plan to help your company sublease excess office space utilizing the principles outlined above, tailored to your specific situation and needs. As always, we represent our clients with creativity, integrity and diligence.
