Lower Manhattan? Downtown? Whatever you prefer to call it, the south end of New York\u2019s most famous borough has come roaring back. Through a decade that started with the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil and ended with an economic storm of historic proportions, the district of New York has become one of the fastest-growing areas of the country, if not the world. And that progress shows no signs of stopping, thanks to the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, including 8.8 million square feet in four office towers.<\/p>\n
According to the Alliance for Downtown New York, Lower Manhattan lost 754 businesses in the two years after the 9\/11 attacks. While it took time for economic growth to return, the district has added 307 new companies since 2005 and now boasts 8,428 companies, 130 more than there were on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike past recoveries, Downtown held its own,\u201d Ken McCarthy, senior economist at Cushman & Wakefield Inc., told CPE. As Cushman & Wakefield continues its quest for tenants in the to-be-completed 1 World Trade Center tower, its trophy signing of Cond\u00e9 Nast represents a major draw for the area. The publisher, which inked a deal for 1 million square feet of space in late May 2011, will take occupancy in late 2013 or early 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Cond\u00e9 Nast is going to have a huge impact,\u201d said Jeremy Moss, senior vice president & director of leasing for Silverstein Partners. \u201cYou can look back at what Cond\u00e9 did for the revitalization of Times Square.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cond\u00e9 Nast, which moved into 650,000 square feet of space at 4 Times Square in 1999, made the change because it \u201cwanted to solidify its long-term occupancy in a way that was right for the company,\u201d Gregory Tosko, vice chairman with CB Richard Ellis Inc.\u2019s consulting services group, told CPE. The publisher wanted more space in a more efficient setting than it had in its current headquarters. \u201cWe had to have space that would allow us to put in technology that we know will be changing,\u201d said Bob Bennis, managing director of real estate for Cond\u00e9 Nast. Several decades of development have also made Times Square considerably more crowded and therefore \u201ca little more difficult to get around in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Transportation, too, played a major role in the decision to relocate Downtown. Bennis explained that the rail network serving the Downtown area will make the World Trade Center accessible to employees living throughout the region. And the transit hub being constructed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey \u201cwill be the Grand Central Station of the next century,\u201d he predicted.<\/p>\n
But young professionals are also moving to Lower Manhattan, noted Robert Constable, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield. \u201cIf you\u2019re just out of college or business school and you\u2019re being recruited (by a Lower Manhattan firm), you\u2019re looking at Downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asking rents also help. \u201cClass A rents are now $69 per square foot in Midtown,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cIn Downtown, they\u2019re $44. That\u2019s a significant difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe demise of downtown was vastly overrated,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cIt\u2019s still the fourth-largest office market in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The south end of New York\u2019s most famous borough has come roaring back. Through a decade that started with the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil and ended with an economic storm of historic proportions, the district of New York has become one of the fastest-growing areas of the country, if not the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1201,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004032945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n