The Real Deal New York

From the March issue: In response to the continued exodus of manufacturing jobs from the Garment Center neighborhood, the city approved a special zoning district 24 years ago this month to preserve the character of the once-bustling apparel district.
The new regulations required that in the affected properties, no additional space could be converted to office use from manufacturing unless the same amount of space was preserved in another building.
The regulations were put in place to protect apparel producers because they were being squeezed from all sides at once.
For one, offshore manufacturers were producing apparel far more cheaply, undercutting domestic companies. At the same time, office tenants were offering to pay much more in rent. Indeed, building owners could improve the space and lease to office tenants who could pay up to $20 per square foot in rent, while manufacturing firms would pay only $8 to $10 per foot. Click here for more.