EAGLE

Tuesday Tips: Choosing a New Location

new office

Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday Tips!

This week, we’re taking a quick look at how to choose a new business location in New York City. Commercial moving in a place like New York City can be difficult, especially for smaller businesses with limited resources and companies inexperienced with complex relocations. Choosing a new location can really make a break a business, especially retail. Therefore, it’s something that every company needs to think very seriously about. Fortunately, keeping a few tips in mind can help you choose a new location successfully and make your commercial moving project go much smoother!

  • Take a good look at transportation options. It goes without saying that transportation access is critical in a dense, complex city like New York City. When looking for a new location, always be sure that it offers convenient access to subway, commuter rail, bus and street transportation options. It’s also a good idea to keep your workforce’s demographics in mind as well. Tech companies with younger workforces that live in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan will likely prefer a new location in those areas while firms with considerable numbers of suburban commuters are probably better off in Midtown Manhattan close to Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station or the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
  • Keep demographics and foot traffic in mind. When looking for a new location as you begin your commercial moving process, it’s important to keep demographics in mind too. For example, a large manufacturing company should choose a location close to a major highway or the Port of New York and New Jersey for convenient exporting of their products and receiving raw materials. For retailers, taking foot traffic into account is also critical. Narrow your location search to streets and neighborhoods with high amounts of pedestrian activity and heavy foot traffic for optimal sales results.
  • Proximity to other services can be key. When location scouting and preparing for your commercial moving project, look beyond your own business and keep other services that can aid your company in mind too. A law firm that focuses on financial issues is best off near Wall Street or Midtown Manhattan, even if it means paying a premium compared to cost savings in other neighborhoods or the outer boroughs.
  • Take cost and your company’s future into account. Always take a hard look at your financial situation and ask yourself where your company wants to be in the next few years. Do you plan on growing? Downsizing? Being cautious due to uncertainty in your economic sector? All of these should be taken into account.
  • Consider digital infrastructure and the best floorplan for your company. Finally, as you start the commercial moving process and seeing what locations are available, consider what you need from a technological and floorplan point of view. A tech startup company, for example, should prioritize finding a location with cutting-edge Internet connections and a flexible, open floorplan to accommodate any projected future growth.