Peter Braus, Managing Principal of Lee & Associates NYC has arranged a lease for the Church Street School for Music and Art at 41 White Street in Tribeca. Working directly with Executive Director Lisa Ecklund-Flores, who founded the non-profit music and arts school in 1990, Mr. Braus spent nearly two years searching for a location that met the school’s criteria for affordability in the Tribeca submarket and room enough to accommodate a student body that starts at 16-months through adulthood.
“CSS is an amazing resource and treasure for the Downtown Manhattan community,” says Mr. Braus. “Helping them relocate and stabilize their financial future has been a great honor and pleasure for me.”
His dedicated efforts have resulted in a 15-year lease for a three-level, 8,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by the Flea Theater. The location comes with two fully built-out performance spaces, acoustical partitions that may be easily divided into classrooms, and several dressing rooms that will be converted into individual practice rooms. The nearly move-in ready site is being repainted in colors more reflective of the school’s uplifting image.
Adds Dr. Ecklund-Flores, “It was an exhaustive search but thanks to Peter, we stayed positive about finding a new location. We now have a doable rent in a space with so many benefits, that we will be able to move in by February.
The rent for the school’s previous location at 74 Warren Street had become unsustainable for the academic non-profit, having escalated to $48,000 per month. The $25,000 rent for the new space will save the school approximately $276,000 annually.
The landlord, Benchmark Real Estate Group, acquired 41 White Street in July 2017, and was represented by Andrew Stern of RKF for the transaction with CSS.
About Lee & Associates NYC
The New York office of Lee & Associates, and its affiliated company Sierra Real Estate LLC, provides a full array of corporate advisory and commercial real estate services, including office and retail brokerage, sales and investments, and project and property management. Together, the firms have more than 85 real estate professionals in its 600 Madison Avenue headquarters office. Additional information is available at www.leeassociatesnyc.com
About Lee & Associates
Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate brokerage, management and appraisal services firm. Established in 1979, Lee & Associates has grown its service platform to include offices in the United States and Canada. Lee & Associates provides superior market intelligence in office, industrial, retail, investment and appraisal to meet the specialized needs of our clients. For the latest news from Lee & Associates, visit lee-associates.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Link our company blog.
