Crains New York - May 14, 2012 - (Page 15)

R E A L E S TAT E INSIDE Residential Revolution Major developers embrace high-end iPad apps as ultimate sales tool PAGE 18 Deals Pernod Ricard doubles its space with 250 Park lease PAGE 18 Tech firms take odd space bytes Togetherness, quirky are in; buttoned-down, boring are out BY TINA TRASTER When Tom Scaramellino went looking for a new home for his tech company—which had outgrown the live/work loft space near City Hall where he’d founded it two years earlier—he had one key advantage. He knew exactly where to look. In a search that began last year, he focused solely on Silicon Alley. “We’ve got to be in the heart of the tech community to attract the Ruby on Rails engineers,” said Mr. Scaramellino, chief executive of Efficiency 2.0, referring to one of the hottest kinds of programmers.“We can’t hire enough of them, so we’ve got to give them a great working environment in a hot—if not the hottest—neighborhood.” And that’s why he inked a three- from local startups to branches of year lease for 5,400 square feet near West Coast giants like Google, vote the Flatiron Building in January. with their feet in favor of neighborBut why he chose to rent hoods like Union Square, specifically at 35 E. 21st St. Flatiron and SoHo—all and pay $47 per square foot part of what loosely confor his seventh-floor suite stitutes Manhattan south. of offices in that 110-year- NUMBER But which buildings will old building also says a of buildings fare better than others in great deal about the kind of of various ages that area—or beyond it, as space he wanted. some firms get priced that make up “It has high ceilings, no Chelsea Market out—is surprisingly hard cubicles and plenty of room to predict, given the sheer for standup desks,” said Mr. range of firms in terms of Scaramellino, who sold his company size, age and focus. earlier this month to a CaliforniaToday’s techies typically prefer based software firm.“Engineers pre- proximity to their peers, buildings fer to stand when they work.” with character and history and, if See TECH FIRMS on Page 17 And so it goes as tech companies, 17 NEW DIGS: Tom Scaramellino rented space at 35 E. 21st St. for his tech company, Efficiency 2.0. He preferred high ceilings, no cubicles and room for standup desks. buck ennis Big vacancies make Third Ave. midtown’s top low-cost option Bargain-minded tenants find large space blocks aplenty BY STEVE GARMHAUSEN Psst. Looking for big blocks of office space at competitive prices, but don’t want to leave midtown? Then swing on over to Third Avenue between East 38th and East 60th streets. There, nearly 60 years after the Third Avenue El was torn down, and the Durst family and others began putting up high-rise office towers, a growing glut of available space beckons. “Third Avenue is the softest market in midtown,” said Alan Desino, executive managing director at real estate firm Colliers International. “There’s no question that is where the best bargains are.” In the first quarter of this year, the avenue’s availability rate leaped to 17.8%, from 15.2% in the prior quarter, according to Colliers. That compares with a rate of 11.7% in midtown north as a whole during the same period. Powering that rise along Third were acres of office space hitting the market in large dollops at several See THIRD AVE. on Page 16 May 14, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 15 buck ennis SPACE ODYSSEY: At TIAACREF’s 685 Third, a half-million square feet are up for grabs.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - May 14, 2012

Crains New York - May 14, 2012
Contents
Brooklyn Brewery taps new leaders
Out-of-town broker hits a local wall
Pearson’s test flubs could cost it dearly
Enrollments are up at summer camps
Real Estate Report: Third Ave. bargains

Crains New York - May 14, 2012