CUTTING THE COSTS

March 10, 2011 | 7:00 am ET Staff Reporter

Non-profit tenants with expiring 10- to 15-year leases inked at $20/SF now face rents as high as $50/SF and are seeking to realign their real estate with their missions, says S. Sunshine & Associates non-profit maven Suzanne Sunshine. She’s been on the ground with many of these tenants, including Anne Frank Center USA(retail/gallery space) and CUE Art Foundation (7,500 SF in Chelsea, Lower Manhattan, or Brooklyn), and is in strategic planning phases with an Upper West Side religious institution and scientific educational foundation. What’s the new frontier for cost-conscious tenants? They’re looking all over, she says, but more are considering space in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Locations still need centrality and transit accessibility, so the 7 Line extension may help the Hudson Yards area, as well. One deal she recently closed was Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation, which took 3,000 SF at32 W 22nd St.

Another deal Suzanne recently brokered was the International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region’s$8.9M purchase of a 26k SF commercial condo at 125 Maiden Lane(above, she’s pictured with Diana Barco, daughter of a former Colombian president, IPPF regional director Carmen Barroso, and IPPF chair Alex Sanger, whose grandmother founded Planned Parenthood). Suzanne donated part of her fees back to the non-profit, and was invited to go to three areas in Colombia with IPPF for eight days to educate women about reproductive rights and start a clinic. She’s also active in other healthcare, arts, and educational work, and last year, Baruch College honored Suzanne and mother Louise Sunshine for their business prowess and civic leadership.