GE Grace & Company, Inc.

10/30/2025

09/25/2025

Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx

10/08/2021

https://commercialobserver.com/2021/09/manhattan-bp-gale-brewer-comes-out-against-soho-rezoning/



Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President will oppose the rezoning for SoHo and NoHo, known as the SoHo/NoHo neighborhood plan. This plan proposes to add 3,200 new apartments to the area, of which 900 will be affordable.

Brewer has argued the city should limit commercial development in the area to preserve its historic appeal, while providing subsidies to developers who want to bring in low-income housing.



Council members have also previously rejected this rezoning plan, believing it does not include enough affordable housing.

After a contentious round of meetings on the SoHo/NoHo rezoning, Manhattan BP Gale Brewer said she would oppose the fraught rezoning.

10/05/2021

https://commercialobserver.com/2021/09/brooklyn-real-estate-post-covid-2021/



Brooklyn lost fewer people than Manhattan during the pandemic. As a result office rents and retail rates declined at a much lower rate there than Manhattan. Dumbo has seen its biggest quarter of leasing in two years. Brooklyn offices rents are at their highest level in the past 5 quarters.



The strength of the Brooklyn residential market helps. Firms adopting the "hub and spoke" model - with smaller offices closer to home, leads companies to Brooklyn.



The industrial market is strong here as well, as e-commerce grabs up the large industrial lots.



If you're interested in moving your office to Brooklyn give us a call. Call George at 646 312 6800 or email him at [email protected].

Call 646 312 6800 or email [email protected].

Multifamily and industrial real estate sectors are doing particularly well, while office and retail are showing resiliency, too.

09/28/2021

https://commercialobserver.com/2021/09/landlord-group-takes-nys-eviction-ban-to-court-again/



The Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord trade advocacy group, filed a lawsuit in federal court to block New York State's eviction moratorium.



The US Supreme Court recently struck down most of New York's prior eviction moratorium. As a result, the state of New York created a new, "reworked" eviction ban. Like day follows night, this is again being contested.



This new ban expires on January 15, 2022 but allows landlords to contest tenant's hardship filings in court. The lawsuit filing argues landlords are unfairly constrained by the updated stature, while tenants can claim hardship without proof and avoid eviction.

The Rent Stabilization Association and a small group of landlords filed a lawsuit in federal court to block NY’s new eviction moratorium.

09/17/2021

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/15/restaurants-sign-most-new-retail-leases-as-manhattan-store-rents-plummet.html

Restaurants are the most active tenants when it comes to signing retail leases lately. After more than 10% of US restaurants closed in 2020 according to Dataessential, a market research firm. Restaurant entrepreneurs are seeing the low rents as an opportunity for new locations in spaces that were unaffordable before the pandemic.

Both Sweetgreen and Shake Shack are planning to expand and open new locations this year. Following food and beverage tenants, as the runner-up in acquiring retail space, is apparel, followed by health care operators and jewelers.

Current rental rates for retail are at the lowest level brokers have seen in a decade. Landlords are sweetening deals to lure tenants, including improvement allowances, longer free rent periods, and percentage rent alternatives.

As employees come back to the office, this dynamic will change. Retail space will become valuable. What we know is that now is a great time to acquire space - both commercial and retail.

Contact GE Grace to see opportunities for your company. Call us at 646 312 6800 or email [email protected].

Food and beverage tenants were the most active in signing retail leases across Manhattan during the second quarter, according to a CBRE study.

09/14/2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/04/nyregion/9-11-lower-manhattan-businesses.html?referringSource=articleShare



The comeback of Downtown Manhattan after 9/11 is being severely impacted by the pandemic. Over the last 18 months, more than 350 area retailers shut their doors.



According to the article, 21% of Lower Manhattan's office space is vacant. Retailers are largely dependent on corporate workers who patronize the neighborhood's restaurants and businesses. If you take away the corporate employees, the residents cannot make up for the loss in volume.



Companies are continuing to shed their Downtown office space. However, Co-Founder of Brik + Clik, Hemant Chavan, has a more optimistic view: he's noticed an uptick in foot traffic to his shop based in the Oculus—one of Downtown’s newest retail hub and tourist attraction—at the foot of the World Trade Center.



If Downtown can recover from 9/11, we are confident it can recover from the pandemic. Tenants should take advantage of the oceans of office space between the two rivers. Call GE Grace at 646 312 6800 or email [email protected].

The triumphant comeback of Lower Manhattan after 2001 became a rallying cry for New York City. But its offices have emptied out, tourists are gone, and hundreds of retailers have shut down.

09/09/2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/nyregion/nyc-brooklyn-pandemic.html

Brooklyn residential neighborhoods have benefited from the emptying of offices, as employees work from home. Brooklyn is leading all other boroughs in economic growth. According to federal labor data, Brooklyn's private sector jobs have increased more than any other borough by the end of 2020. Brooklyn also saw the biggest increase in new residents when compared to other boroughs of NYC.

It looks like Brooklyn is well positioned for future growth. For Manhattan residents seeking larger apartments, Brooklyn is a popular destination. With this new influx of residents working from home, local Brooklyn businesses have prospered when compared to those based in other boroughs.

Whether these changes will be lasting is unknown. Economists predict Manhattan will reemerge as the borough leader in economic activity.

Hybrid working models have led employers to open smaller offices in Brooklyn, where employees can work closer to home.

Service sector businesses like restaurants illustrate the contrast; Manhattan's restaurant employment rate is down 15% (from pre-pandemic levels), Brooklyn's rate is up 10% during the same period.

Workers serving Manhattan businesses who are unable to work from home are facing uncertainty of being forced out of their neighborhoods due to the influx of Manhattan remote workers.

The emptying of Manhattan’s office districts has benefited Brooklyn neighborhoods where residents worked from home, testing the balance of power between the city’s boroughs.

02/04/2021

https://therealdeal.com/2021/01/28/wework-dumps-several-manhattan-locations/

WeWork has exited several leases across Manhattan including locations in Midtown, the Meatpacking District, and Soho. CEO Sandeep Mathrani told Reuters that WeWork is "completely on track" to turn a profit by the year's end.

WeWork's board is in discussion regarding an offering to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (S**C) which is designed to take companies public without going through the traditional IPO process. Given the history of WeWork, we are not surprised. This deal values the firm at $10 billion.

WeWork will benefit from increased demand in flexible office space—the anticipated methodology that companies will lease office space in the future.

Contact GE Grace at 646 312 6800 or email [email protected] to see what flexible space is available.

WeWork recently exited several leases in Manhattan as the company eyes turning a profit by the end of the year.

02/02/2021

https://commercialobserver.com/2021/01/new-york-city-indoor-dining-to-return-on-valentines-day/

Indoor dining will resume at 25% capacity on Valentine's Day. Tables will be socially distanced, temperatures will be checked at the door, and contact information will be required for contact tracing.

Weddings with guests of up to 150 people can also resume as of March 15th.

Executive Director of New York City Hospitality Alliance, Andrew Rigie voices his gratitude for Cuomo lifting the ban on indoor dining, but feels there is no need to wait until Valentine's Day. He points out that Covid infections are higher in other areas of the state, and restaurants are allowed to operate indoor dining at 50% capacity currently. “Gratitude” to Cuomo, Hah! I wonder what he really thought?

The reopening of indoor dining is a welcoming sign of life coming back to the city. Office life may follow, albeit, with more flexible arrangements. Contact GE Grace to see space and get ahead of the influx coming back to Manhattan soon. Call us at 646 312 6800 or email [email protected].

Love is in the air. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that indoor dining will be allowed to resume again in New York City on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, as the number of coronavirus cases dropped…

02/01/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DDP5pyZdGs

Jeffrey Margolis, New York real estate attorney, has been busy with "unleasing". Many tenants are rethinking their real estate space situation as the pandemic persists. There are some solutions to help tenants. It is imperative to contact a real estate expert to help on these negotiations.

Contact GE Grace at [email protected] or call 646 312 6800.

http://margolislawfirm.com/real-estate-law/firm-bios-history/margolis-realestate/