‘Prebuild’ offices jump off shelves

Small “prebuilds” — 2,500- to 7,000- square-foot finished office spaces — are becoming an increasingly popular product in New York’s commercial market. Wealthy investment companies, like hedge funds and private equity firms, will pay a premium for a space if it means they can move in immediately and not go through the hassle of dealing with architects and contractors. Robert C. Fink of Capital Properties said that a raw space on the market for two years at $75 per square foot a year leased for $85 per foot as a prebuild. Illustrating another trend, Architect Milo Kleinberg Design Associates is putting small prebuilds in 7 WTC that are finished to the specifications of a large tenant in the building; the offices will lease for several years until the bigger company is ready to expand. more [NYT]