A recent study done by Squarefoot.com shows that SoHo is the second most-sought-after office space location in New York City.
SoHo has evolved throughout the years and has become a favorite area of New Yorkers everywhere. It boasts home to some of the best restaurants and boutiques on the entire island of Manhattan, so it’s no surprise that companies want to make their home in these well-lit buildings.
SoHo hasn’t always been the neighborhood we know it best for today. In fact, the area we know and love as SoHo today came to be in the 1950s. It was once an industrial area, but then after the industry moved out of the area, it became rather empty but soon enough in the 1950’s artists began to move into the area because of the cheap rent, good lighting, and loft-style buildings. This era started SoHo as we know and love it today.
During the 1970s SoHo became home to countless artists and famous residents such as Andy Warhol, David Bowie, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, to name a few. As the rent rose, artists moved out, and other businesses and residents moved in, hoping to be “…feel cool by osmosis.” Jonathan Wasserstrum, the CEO of Squarefoot.com told Metro.
Metro spoke with Wasserstrum, about how SoHo has evolved throughout the years and what the present and future holds for SoHo.
Wasserstrum explained that a lot of art and fashion companies go to that area too because it’s where a lot of other companies they work with are already located, such as public relations firms.
Additionally, he added, “… there are a lot of new brands that people are talking about that are direct to consumer brands and digitally native brands which are, at the end of the day, consumer companies. Most of what they have is online, so by opening up a location in SoHo, they can have the best of both worlds. Because you can draw people who otherwise were going to be in that area already shopping, to actual office to sell them things.”
Since SoHo is centrally located, the big decision makers within smaller companies love it. SoHo is also a well-loved area because many decision makers are from neighborhoods nearby and even if they aren’t, it’s easily accessible by public transport. Being in SoHo allows them to have a short commute.
Wasserstrum also mentioned that one of the great perks of the businesses setting up offices in SoHo is that companies’ clientele is already in the area, so it’s easy for their office to double as a showroom. He also mentioned it’s a great location for smaller companies because there isn’t really space for larger ones there. He added that “The cliché is ‘If you build it they will come,’ is playing out there.”
He predicts that although the face of SoHo is unlikely to change, it is likely to see new businesses in the fashion industry space, pop-up in the area within the next few years.
