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The availability of retail space is at an all-time high in the city, but landlords are not letting their revenue streams dry up.
They're trading in their "For Rent" signs for money-making advertisements—worth thousands of dollars a month—complete with high-tech screens to engage passersby, liven up their vacant real estate and keep the cash flowing.
"Something is better than nothing," said Daniel Sherman, a general manager at Stellar Management. "As New York makes its recovery, it's nice to identify every income stream you can."
At the real estate firm's One Soho Square building, it ran an advertisement for the Ford F150 pickup truck—a video ad that took up an entire window and played on a loop as New Yorkers walked by the building.
The company even included information about the retail space that was available at the end of the ad with the broker's information. The ad will stay there until the space can be leased up, Sherman said.
Stellar, as well as other city landlords including CIM Group, Rockpoint Group and RXR Realty are amplifying their empty real estate with Frontrunner, a company that connects them with the advertisers and even sets up the storefront with the right technology to get the ads playing.
"As...