Commercial Real Estate & Advisory

Getting Storage Closer to Home

By Elisabeth Butler | October 2, 2006

When Joseph Wong was looking for a second Manhattan location for his ANC Home Decor furniture store, he wasn’t searching for the hottest shopping spot with the heaviest foot traffic. Instead, he wanted to find a space with a huge basement.

Mr. Wong has been trucking antique Chinese armoires between his West 18th Street store and a warehouse in Bridgeport, Conn., for the past six years. Because it is getting more and more expensive to transport the goods, Mr. Wong is opening another ANC store that will provide storage space for his excess inventory.

“It was too far for me,” Mr. Wong says. “The diesel prices were just going too high.”

He signed a five-year lease for 11,250 square feet at 370 Broadway, between Franklin and White streets. The site’s 3,750-square-foot ground floor will be used for retail, and the two basement floors will serve as warehousing for ANC’s original and faux antiques. The asking rent for the ground floor was $42 per square foot.

Sinvin Realty Corp. negotiated the deal for both the tenant and the landlord, Magna Fabrics. Broker Jeremy Markoe says ANC will attract new shoppers to that section of Broadway, which is south of Canal Street.

“It’s not as hot as Broadway above Canal, but it’s getting there,” Mr. Markoe says.