2001: An (office) space odyssey.Real Estate Weekly's first roundtable discussion of the year asked panelists for their take on 2001--that is, the year that began on Jan. 1, 2001 and ended 30 days ago. Much of the discussion centered on the post-Sept. 11 market, and what lies ahead for lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York. Lower Manhattan is generally defined as the area delineated on the north by Chambers Street, on the west by the Hudson River (North . The panel agreed that, prior to Sept. 11, the market was clearly slowing down with failing dot-coms pushing vacancy rates up throughout the city. With sublease sublease n. the lease of all or a portion of premises by a tenant who has leased the premises from the owner. A sublease may be prohibited by the original lease, or require written permission from the owner. space on the rise, it was inevitable--though counter intuitive at the time--that after Sept. 11 the market would be flooded with it. Participants included Richard T. Anderson, president of the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Building Congress, Stephen Estroff, attorney from Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , Mark Jaccom, executive vice president of Julien J. Studley Inc., Steven Swerdlow, president of CB Richard Ellis' eastern division, and Carl Weisbrod, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc. The first few months of 2001 saw a "gradual erosion" in vacancy rates according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Swerdlow. "But on Sept. 11 we saw a quantum decline," he said. Weisbrod characterized the market before Sept. 14 as being "in a disconnect disconnect - SCSI reconnect ," because so many companies had excess space. "Many companies are waiting to go downtown once the incentives package is released," he said. All of the panelists agreed that an incentives package is urgent, if not over due already. Jaccom said that the rift between what downtown tenants want to do--and can do--is vast. "Psychologically, these tenants want to leave. But they can't just break their leases. A lot of us are saying to them, 'stay tuned,"' he said. Anderson stressed the importance of doing the right thing downtown, which includes moving forward quickly nd respectfully. "This will be one of the most visited sites in the world. It has to be designed with that in mind. It also has to support lower Manhattan and the city," he said. The one panelist pan·el·ist n. A member of a panel. Noun 1. panelist - a member of a panel panellist panel - a group of people gathered for a special purpose as to plan or discuss an issue or judge a contest etc from the legal profession added that ownership rights could make the future of this site a slippery slope 'slippery slope' Medical ethics An ethical continuum or 'slope,' the impact of which has been incompletely explored, and which itself raises moral questions that are even more on the ethical 'edge' than the original issue . "You have the Port Authority's position and the tenant's position. There is a lease, and these issues have to be resolved," said Estroff. The overriding theme of the discussion was lower Manhattan, its future and what must be done-soon-to get it back on its feet. At the end of the talk, all were asked to predict what 2002 would bring this city's real estate industry. It wasn't-as in past years-a question that people jumped to answer. "I'll just say that I think 2002 will be a hell of a lot better than 2001," said Weisbrod. |
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