Consulting Firm Leaves East Village for 14,500 SF in Industry City
By Rebecca Baird-Remba September 13, 2018 8:00 am
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British management consulting firm ?WhatIf! is moving its offices to Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The company will relocate from 137 Second Avenue in the East Village to 14,500 square feet in Industry City’s Building 3, at 219 36th Street, the landlord told Commercial Observer. An Industry City spokeswoman didn’t specify the length of the long-term lease. Asking rents at the 16-building industrial-and-office complex range from $15 to $40 a square foot.
“We believe that the move to Industry City will enable a great leap forward in our ability to provide breakthrough thinking for our clients,” Bart Higgins, a partner at ?What If!, said in prepared remarks.
Nicky Heryet of Avison Young and Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)‘s Jonathan Schindler and Stuart Gilbert represented ?What If! in the deal.
“The ?What If! team enjoyed its original location on Second Avenue, but the company was looking to improve efficiencies and consolidate its space,” Heryet said in an email. “However, as an innovation company, they still wanted a similar ‘cool’ location with cutting-edge amenities. The building at 219 36th Street in Brooklyn, located in the heart of the world-class Industry City district, fit the bill.”
Kathe Chase and David Young handled the transaction in-house for Industry City. Spokespeople for Avison Young and C&W didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
“?What If!, with its ‘experimental inventing’ ideology and ‘people focused’ innovative culture, is the consummate fit with Industry City’s creative class of companies,” Chase said in prepared remarks “The addition of “?What If! to our community, and the potential for partnerships with other Industry City businesses, is one more exciting and uniquely enriching component of our unrivaled ecosystem of forward thinking companies.”
Belvedere Capital, Jamestown, Angelo Gordon & Co., Cammeby’s International and the Fruchtandler family’s FBE Limited own the 5.3-million-square-foot development, where Vera Institute of Justice and TeamLab also recently signed leases.
