“A Matter of Perseverance”

The firm could not immediately move because it was bound by its lease that would not terminate for another two years.  AREA’s examination of the tenant’s lease and the building found a material defect in the services of the building that compromised its validity; The landlord had modified elevator access to the building so that the tenant’s access was more restricted than the access at the time of the lease signing, which created the basis for Andrews Real Estate Advisers to negotiate its exit from the Staten Island building.

Having freed the tenant from its lease obligations, AREA identified twelve office spaces from a pool of twenty spaces in downtown New York for presentation to the tenant after having first previewing them through personal inspections to ensure that they met the tenant’s requirements.  It is only by an in-person inspection that an office can be accurately understood since an office’s characteristics are usually not completely described in the landlord’s offering.  AREA assessed the quality of light, office space image, elevator access, the condition of the space, the existing tenant improvements, the HVAC system, noise level, and other factors.

Offers were prepared by AREA on the tenant’s behalf for two Broadway building offices and a John Street office.  The offers stated the rent and escalation amounts that the tenant was willing to pay for the office space as well as the space improvements it required.  After negotiating the landlords’ counteroffers, the tenant decided in favor of the John St. office.  A lease was prepared by the landlord.  However, at that point the landlord made unreasonable demands on Infra Tech Engineering’s owner for personally securing the lease.  As a result, the tenant rejected the lease.

At this juncture, AREA suggested to the tenant look at office spaces in Queens and Brooklyn.  The tenant formerly had been reluctant to look in these boroughs since it was familiar and comfortable with Downtown NYC, having previously had its offices there.  However, when AREA pointed out that the rents were approximately twenty percent lower in the boroughs, the tenant agreed to consider offices in those areas.  It turns out that it was fortuitous that the lease of the John St. office had fallen through since the tenant was pleasantly surprised with the quality of offices in the Queens at lower rents.  Offers were made on three different Queens office spaces.  The office that was selected had car parking in the building, a rare amenity.  The other feature that had helped to cement the tenant’s interest in the space was its proximity to a bank since the tenant made deposits almost daily.