LISTEN: Inside NYC’s Proliferation of Private Clubs

Everywhere you look in New York City, there’s a club calling your name — so long as you’re willing to pay the hefty fees and dues.

Exclusive, members-only clubs have modernized and proliferated across the city, particularly post-pandemic. Reporter Liz Cryan has been following the movement and stopped by The Real Deal’s podcast “Deconstruct” to talk about them.

While Soho House’s arrival in the Meatpacking District at the beginning of the century was a critical moment for these clubs, things really started to turn when Zero Bond opened during the dog days of the pandemic, according to Cryan. It was around that time demand grew for so-called “third spaces,” not to mention a need to reimagine buildings that became obsolete during the health crisis.

The clubs are used as meeting points to socialize, network, hold business lunches and even enjoy wellness amenities. There are also more family-friendly options popping up in Brooklyn, giving kids a chance to run around or bowl while parents shmooze.

The clubs are a “dream tenant” for landlords, according to Cryan. Their elaborate buildouts create a sense of permanence (and give landlords leverage in future negotiations) and they carry a “cool” factor to them.

The question becomes: have we reached a saturation point for these clubs? How much more room do they have to grow in New York?

This episode of “Deconstruct” also breaks this week’s real estate news: reaction to the proposed pied-à-terre tax, former Vornado Realty Trust executive Jared Solomon found guilty in a federal fraud trial, Dubai developer Damac failing to sell a single unit at its condo project on the Surfside collapse site so far and an update on the California governor’s race.

Be sure to check out “Deconstruct” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts.

— Holden Walter-Warner