Downtown is where New York businesses will find the city's most affordable rents. Downtown includes the Financial, Insurance and World Trade Center districts. At the end of the third quarter of 2010 the average quoted rent for Class A buildings in Midtown was $58.09 per square foot compared to Downtown's $40.00, a 31% savings. However, for Class B buildings, the disparity in rents between Midtown and Downtown building while still significant, was less;$41.99 vs. $35.72, a 15% savings. Also of importance to the savvy shopper, Downtown Landlords are usually more generous with their Tenant Incentives (free rent, construction and (0r) cash contribution) than Landlords in other markets.
More reasons to consider relocating Downtown:
Municipal Incentive Programs: Federal, state, and local incentive programs are available for qualifying leases signed before March 31, 2014 that will reduce a tenant's costs below the already competitive market rents. For example, participation in the Downtown Revitalization Program can save your business a total of $10.00 per square foot during a five- year term. For example, a 3,000 square foot lease will yield $30,000 worth of rent credits! For more information visit: http://www.downtownny.com/dobusiness/assistance/incentives/
Ease of Transportation: There is a convergence of subway lines downtown. The 4/5, 1/2/3, N/R, A/C/E and the J/M/Z stations are all easily accessible. The Fulton Street Transportation Hub is now being renovated and it will connect all of these lines in a state-of-the-art facility. There is a PATH Station and ferry service providing connections to New Jersey and Staten Island. And bus service with connections throughout all five boroughs. For more information about transportation visit: www.mta.info
Amenities: The neighborhood is being dramatically transformed by affluent residential developments. This area is now home to over 37,000 residents with 50,000 projected by 2010. With these changes have come many new restaurants and pubs retailers and service businesses. The area is rich with waterfront parks, museums and cultural sites.
The Downtown Alliance is striving to make Lower Manhattan a wonderful place to live, work and play by creating a vibrant multi-use neighborhood where businesses can prosper and the residential community can flourish. For more information and an interactive map visit: www.downtownny.com
crain's new york business.com
Julie Menin on the future of lower Manhattan Rebuilding process will continue with new schools, other projects. By Julie MeninMay 8, 2011 6:00 p.m.
The death of Osama bin Laden was a moment for which family members of Sept. 11 victims and the downtown community have waited almost 10 years. While justice was served, it does not change the fact that 3,000 lives were senselessly lost or that there is a 16-acre hole in the heart of our neighborhood. But as we approach the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, we can send a message of resilience and rebirth to al-Qaida and the world. There is no better testament to the ability of our great city to rebuild than the fact that 30,000 new residents have moved into lower Manhattan since that date, almost doubling its population and defying predictions that no one would ever want to live in, work in or even visit the neighborhood. In fact, lower Manhattan is the fastest-growing residential neighborhood in the city, leading us to spearhead the building of three new public schools in our district in the past four years, and help open several community centers, parks and playgrounds to address the growing need. On the commercial front, 250 new firms have moved to lower Manhattan since 2005, and 9 million tourists visit annually.
Yet challenges still remain. On the residential front, we must continue to build new schools for our community. We have to continue to push for the development of new affordable housing so that the neighborhood is not priced out of reach for many. We need to ensure that the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. quickly and effectively distributes its remaining approximately $150 million to meritorious projects and community needs. We as a community board have prioritized the building of the WTC Performing Arts Center as a key economic-revitalization project that would create immediate construction jobs and long-term jobs and would help lease the remaining office towers at the site. We are working to develop a WTC tour bus plan that encourages the use of public transportation to the site, rather than clogging downtown with hundreds of buses. And perhaps most important, we need to guarantee the security of lower Manhattan. While we were able to get the Sept. 11 terror trials moved out of the neighborhood, we all need to ensure that many of the critical recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission report are finally adopted and that the Homeland Security Department changes its funding formulas to allocate funds truly based on risk. While challenges remain for our community and city, we should all remember the unity that ties our country together. As we turn to the 10th anniversary in September, we need to come together and continue to show the world that we New Yorkers persevered and rebuilt the neighborhood that served as our country's first capital, the cornerstone of democracy. Julie Menin is chairperson of Community Board 1 in lower Manhattan and the host of NBC's Give and Take.
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