Trending
From the archives: Fighting rubber ruler measurements
Office tenants find ways to avoid charges for hallways and staircases
Every industry uses its own metrics. Fabrics come by the yard, gas is sold by the gallon, office space in New York City is rented by the square foot. As it turns out, however, renting precise amounts of office space isn’t quite that simple.
As with most things in the real estate world, New York is in its own universe, one where building sizes sometimes seem to grow and shrink based on market conditions rather than actual physical dimensions. It’s also normal for all sorts of charges, some of which date back to pre-Depression days, to find their way onto leases.