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What does it take to get prospective office tenants to sign a lease these days?
At 10 Grand Central, a boutique Midtown office building, one tenant needed a written guarantee that a bar cart would come out at the end of every workday for happy hour.
Another tenant requested in the lease agreement that the Marx Realty-owned building's signature scent—hints of leather with lemon and vanilla notes—also run through the ducts in its own office space.
"People want a compelling reason to go back to work," said Craig Deitelzweig of Marx Realty.
In a market where office buildings are just 15% full and rents are dropping, tenants hold the upper hand in negotiations. Landlords are finding it hard to turn them down.
Common areas that attract lots of staffers—which at one point had been a liability...