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Ben Parkinson
Ben Parkinson
  • 2 Minute Read
  • 12th October 2012

NY virtual office doubles in demand by second birthday

A business centre in Fresh Meadows, New York, has seen the uptake for its virtual office space double from 75 to 150 between its first and second birthdays.

Since the centre opened in October 2010, owners of the office space in Queens have been overwhelmed by demand for their virtual office capacity, with full time professionals now making up approximately half of all applications.

A virtual office allows tenants to register at a prestigious corporate address without moving in to physical space, with mail forwarding, professional call answering services and conference room hire to cater to client communications.

Jack Blumner, Executive Director of the centre, believes the rocketing demand has been driven by the provision of a cost-effective office solution towards the tail end of the global economic crisis. He told PRWeb: “I believe that we opened our business at a fortuitous time".

"The recession may have officially ended in 2009, but since then, the recovery has been anaemic at best, and the new business mind set is cost efficiency and savings. That is precisely what we are selling."

Now managing the most successful virtual office facility in the borough, Blumner goes on to explain how the model has changed the public’s perceptions of leased office space, saying: "Albert Einstein changed the way we look a space and time in the universe”… “[Our] centre changed the way we look at space and time in the borough of Queens."

"You don't have the huge overhead associated with traditional office space rentals. You don't have to make the capital investments in furniture and telephone systems. You don't need a receptionist, because we offer personalized telephone answering. And, you get substantial benefits that you wouldn't have with a traditional office, like access to conference room, courteous lobby reception, etc."

Once a flexible office model most popular among young entrepreneurs and creative media start-ups, virtual offices now provide space for seasoned professionals, as Blumner explains: “"We have about 45 attorneys. We have architects, accountants, a good number of social workers and other mental health professionals. The other half is mostly small businesses - everything from home care services to realtors."

The shift will be seen as a positive indicator of increasing economic confidence, most notably within the flexible office industry, with Senior Vice President of Search Office Space Daniel Soffer recently indicating a correlative increase in larger capacity serviced office uptake throughout the state.

He said: “We have seen a steady increase in enquiries for executive suites in each of the last five years, and a total increase since 2008 of 61%. Supply is also increasing with a number of new centres having opened in 2012. On average, 15 centres have opened each year in Manhattan over the last 3 years.”

“Familiarity with the executive office model is helping it to become recognized like never before, with larger corporations needing the assurance of flexibility. Our provision of executive offices is now trending and has become more of a serious option compared to long term leases.”

New York