That’s what I’m seeing - a lot of companies that were formed over the last 18 months, and now they need office space.
Like I said, they have to have offices they don’t even know each other. My experience - I’ve been leasing to a lot of young companies. Are they the ones driving leasing in Manhattan, or is it still financial services? It’s hard to argue that if your company’s been successful over the last 18 months working from home that you can’t do it. I think there will be more on quality of life, and I think companies will look to allow their employees to work from home. It’s just being around people, sharing ideas - but do I think it’s going to come back to the way it was before the pandemic? I don’t think so. I think that if you’re competing with companies that want five days a week in the office, and you’re working remotely, I think companies working in the office will do better. I think that if it’s more than one or two days a week for employees, those companies will suffer. On the other hand, I can understand people with long commutes who like it. I’m talking to you remotely, and I’ve been on phone calls all day. Look, personally, I don’t like working remotely. Some countries that have seen the rate spike with the delta variant have seen it drop, so maybe the same thing will happen with us. I think we have to hope, frankly, that this delta variant, that we’re able to keep the positivity rate at 3 percent. Unfortunately, the rain came, but I thought the concert was a good idea.
We gave everybody an opportunity to get fully vaccinated.īesides vaccinations, what can New York City, the public and private sectors be doing to spur the recovery? Then, to have a little fun, we put $10,000 in a kitty, and everyone who’s fully vaccinated would be able to put their hand in the fishbowl and we’ll have one person get a $5,000 bonus, and five people will get a $1,000. So, I came up with the idea that we would give everybody who’s vaccinated a $500 bonus, whether they had already been vaccinated or they were going to get vaccinated. We thought this was the best way we could encourage those that were hesitant since we could not make it mandatory for our union employees. In our corporate offices, everybody’s vaccinated. There was an employee vaccination incentive at your company. I can give you a list of tenants that I’ve leased space to. I mean, New York is doing OK.Ĭan you talk about the tech tenants you’ve signed or are in negotiations with?
On the other hand, hopefully, the fact that this Pfizer vaccine now has full approval, maybe that will encourage people to get vaccinated. So, I think people are renting space, even though we all thought that after Labor Day we’d see a huge return - that’s not likely to happen. I think I have 10 leases out for signature. But I’ve been very busy leasing space, so I think that a lot of the tech tenants that I’ve been working with, they’re young companies, and they can’t work from home because they don’t even know each other. Our view of the world was that the right thing to do, to work with our tenants and help them get through this. That’s how you get through something like a pandemic. We thought by Labor Day everyone would be coming back, and we had a couple of empty stores, so we thought we’d put these murals in the windows, and it would be a way to welcome people back and to remind people that we all have to work together. We thought we would kind of do something to welcome people back to New York City. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Noted illustrator Anthony Russo is behind the murals, which include such phrases as “We rise by lifting others” and “Be kind, it powers the world.” He also warned about what might derail New York’s recovery - one that his company has sought to promote through five murals at 10 Astor Place, 200 Varick Street and 80 Eighth Avenue, among other GFP addresses. The developer and owner says he’s learned some things during the pandemic, particularly when it comes to lease lengths. Gural talked to Commercial Observer during the last full week of August, as the delta variant continued to surge and Kathy Hochul became New York’s governor as Andrew Cuomo exited. SEE ALSO: Diagnostic Center for Women Expands in Kendall to 28K SF