{"id":386329,"date":"2021-12-27T00:33:52","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T21:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nyc-can-get-creative-with-uses-for-empty-office-space\/"},"modified":"2021-12-27T00:33:52","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T21:33:52","slug":"nyc-can-get-creative-with-uses-for-empty-office-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nyc-can-get-creative-with-uses-for-empty-office-space\/","title":{"rendered":"#NYC can get creative with uses for empty office space"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#NYC can get creative with uses for empty office space<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/steve-cuozzo.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Steve Cuozzo\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/steve-cuozzo.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/steve-cuozzo.png?w=38 38w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>What would we do with a half-billion square feet of Manhattan office space if most of it remains empty? It\u2019s the loaded question about the city\u2019s future that not even our brightest, most optimistic minds want to touch.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve been told that office buildings won\u2019t be vacant forever. Once Omicron recedes, a trickling return to workplaces will swell into a mighty wave. Buildings might not be as full as they were pre-COVID but they\u2019ll be full enough to sustain the city\u2019s great commercial tax base and keep landlords from going broke.<\/p>\n<p>So say real estate executives and business leaders, and so have I written many times in these pages.<\/p>\n<p>But what if we\u2019re all wrong? What h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ens if scary prognostications by the brilliant Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan come to pass?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-old-new-york-wont-come-back-11614296201\">Noonan wrote last February<\/a> that the pandemic brought about \u201cthe collapse of the commuter model \u2026 in the past year the owners of great businesses found how much can be done remotely. They hadn\u2019t known that!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u00a0added that \u201cthey don\u2019t have to pay that killer rent for office space anymore. People think it will all snap back when the pandemic is fully over but no, a human habit broke; a new way of operating has begun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What if our office towers, the pride of our skyline, turn into towering white elephants?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-086.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"It's possible that some office space will need to be converted to residential buildings.\" class=\"wp-image-20620632\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-086.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-086.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-086.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>It\u2019s possible that some office space will need to be converted to residential buildings.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Lindsey Nicholson\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I posed the issue to urban analysts normally eager to comment on anything from bike lanes to endangered manatees. But not even the oft-quoted Regional Plan Association would touch it. Others whom I reached out to responded to questions I hadn\u2019t asked or changed the subject altogether.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Only the Real Estate Board of New York, the industry trade organization, tackled the more limited issue of how to accelerate conversion of second-class, older office buildings \u2014 which REBNY estimated at 220 million square feet, or about 40 percent of the total office stock \u2014 to residential use.<\/p>\n<p>The group noted that the phenomenon was long underway in lower Manhattan, where tens of millions of obsolescent office spaces found new life as apartments from the late 1990s to the present day.<\/p>\n<p>The whirlwind rescued magnificent but unused landmarks such as 70 Pine St. and One Wall Street as well as scores of lesser properties. It made downtown a more cohesive and viable family neighborhood, which helped the area survive the effects of 9\/11 and Hurricane Sandy.<\/p>\n<p>Noting the city\u2019s profound housing shortage, REBNY produced a batch of proposals to facilitate large-scale office-to-residential conversions. But they\u2019d require wholesale zoning changes, state-city cooperation to provide tax subsidies, and cultural changes at city agencies such as the departments of Housing Preservation and Development, Buildings, City Planning and Finance.<\/p>\n<p>REBNY wants the City Council to set up a task force to study the options. But until then, we\u2019ll humbly suggest a few possible new future uses for some over-the-hill office properties. Landlords should roll up their sleeves now for a changed future \u2014 even if it means replacing office workers with fantasy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-084.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"The city can consider options like creating new museums or even film studios in vacant Manhattan buildings.\" class=\"wp-image-20620630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-084.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-084.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/mahattan-office-rent-084.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>NYC can consider options like creating new museums or even film studios in vacant Manhattan buildings.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Take the Garment District, which once manufactured most of America\u2019s clothing and is now mainly home to tech, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> and smaller financial firms that can\u2019t afford fancier digs. Some buildings were upgraded to contemporary use \u2014 but a surprisingly many grimy, prewar structures remain stuck in the 1950s.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Let\u2019s turn a few of them into something the city has long deserved: a spectacular museum where the once heavily unionized district\u2019s role in New York history and national politics are brought back to life. Show how seamstresses lent the sewing power to clothe America\u2019s women \u2014 and why union backing was so important to generations of Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n<p>Another option is bringing Hollywood here. Why should Queens monopolize Big Apple film production? The Steiner, Kaufman Astoria and Silvercup studios are wonderful. But a full-scale Manhattan movie and TV complex would be the crown jewel in \u201cHollywood on the Hudson.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such a facility could be retrofitted inside one of Manhattan\u2019s numerous \u201chorizontal skyscrapers\u201d once used as warehouses and shipping terminals. Sure, some of them are now home to companies like Google and Facebook. But with their CEOs repeatedly delaying return-to-office plans, who knows what they\u2019ll be good for in five years?<\/p>\n<p>While we\u2019re at, let\u2019s improve our architectural gems. More than a few 1950s and 1960s office buildings have been only modestly spiffed up (e.g., new lobbies) and some not at all. Certain properties on Third, Sixth and even Park avenues can\u2019t compete with properties which landlords spent hundreds of millions of dollars on to bring them into the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>But their International Style curtain walls powerfully evoke the corporate mystique of the Eisenhower and \u201cMad Men\u201d years, when American power and prestige were unchallenged around the globe. They\u2019d be ideal repositories for the lore and culture of their era in New York City \u2014 when CBS, NBC and ABC ruled the airwaves, the Brooklyn Dodgers struggled against the Yankees and the Beatles took the nation by storm on \u201cThe Ed Sullivan Show.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nyc-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"The city can also attempt to improve office buildings built decades ago.\" class=\"wp-image-20620739\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nyc-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nyc-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nyc-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The city can also attempt to improve office buildings built many decades ago.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">C. Taylor Crothers\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Finally,\u00a0we can all use some fun. Wow, how we need fun! How about a vast, indoor amusement park, like the enclosed portion of Coney Island\u2019s legendary Steeplechase Park.<\/p>\n<p>Of course the kids\u2019 carousels and other gentle indoor rides would need to give way to the heart-stopping, pulse-pounding thrills of today\u2019s Scream Zone and Phoenix roller coaster. And imagine a Cyclone that can stay open year-round!<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>\u2019s there and the demand will never abate. All it takes is the vision to make it happen inside one of our 100-year-old, hulking brick-and-mortar goliaths where office tenants aren\u2019t making landlords rich with $35-a-square-foot leases.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/26\/nyc-can-get-creative-with-uses-for-empty-office-space\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#NYC can get creative with uses for empty office space&#8221; What would we do with a half-billion square feet of Manhattan office space if most of it remains empty? It\u2019s the loaded question about the city\u2019s future that not even our brightest, most optimistic minds want to touch. We\u2019ve been told that office buildings won\u2019t&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":386331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/manhattan-comp.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[122634,70344,4953,75786,120464,71226],"class_list":["post-386329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-26-21","tag-coronavirus-in-ny","tag-new-york-city","tag-office-space","tag-omicron-variant","tag-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}