I had coffee last week with Scott Singer, President at The Singer & Bassuk Organization. Scott reached out to me after seeing one of my posts in Bisnow because aside from both being in real estate, we share connections to Chappaqua and Brant Lake Camp. One thing that stood out to me from our conversation was a simple comment that to write effective content, he finds it helpful to think about the conversations he had that week…the phone calls / meetings / questions…and write about that. So simple, yet so good.
People often ask me what are the most popular areas of NYC for technology companies. Interestingly, this question is posed less for financial services firms – perhaps because many know that they are heavily concentrated in the Plaza District and upper Park Avenue corridor (with some exceptions of course.) Unlike financial services firms which primarily reside in select areas/buildings, there really is no confined submarket/area for technology companies. Instead, tech firms are spread throughout Midtown South, which results in Midtown South displaying price equality whereas Midtown shows price diversity. A quick look at the numbers explains this further:
As of February 1, 2017 average asking rents in Midtown were nearly $80 ($79.95 to be exact.) Midtown includes the Plaza District however also includes submarkets like Times Square South, the old garment district. Average asking rents in the Plaza District are $124 and in Times Square South are $60. That’s a $64 difference (107%) between the high and low end of Midtown. The average asking rent in the Midtown South market overall is $74.21. However, the difference between the most expensive submarket (NoHo/Soho, $81) and the least expensive submarket (Park Avenue South / Madison Square, $66) is $15, or only 20%. Thinking of the difference between Midtown and Midtown South as showing price diversity vs. price equality is a helpful way to understand the big picture of rents in both markets.
Mike and I put together a map illustrating this and many of our clients have found it to be a helpful visual. If interested, please send me an e-mail and I’d be happy to share it with you too.