By Daniel Geiger
Outside Editorial, a company that specializes in film and television editing, has relocated into about 5,500 s/f at 466 Broome Street.
Erik Nissani, a commercial broker who operates a boutique leasing brokerage with his brother Jeff Nissani, handled the move for the firm, part a growing list of movie production and sound recording tenants he has developed a specialty representing.
Nissani said that Outside Editorial’s space needs were more specific than most companies of its type, which often carve an office space into separate, darkened editing suites. Outside Editorial instead wanted an open layout with abundant natural light in order to create a more inviting environment for the production executives it usually works with and entertains in its offices.
“They want to have an office with windows and skylights that is comfortable and aesthetically appealing to their clients,” Nissani said. “Producers are coming into the office for hours at a time to look over the work they’re doing so they want to make sure it’s a pleasant for them to be there. That’s part of what sets their business apart.”
Outside Editorial will be moving from a duplex space it occupied at 69 Mercer Street. Nissani said that the company was initially reluctant to leave the location because of its amenities, including a balcony and outdoor roof area. The decision to go to 466 Broome stemmed from the company’s desire to grow. Expanding further at 69 Mercer would have required the company to spread its offices between too many floors, a type of layout that can be inefficient.
Having worked with a number of film and television production facilities and recording studios in recent years, Nissani said that he has picked up an eye for the kinds of spaces these tenants have begun to look for. Whereas in past years, production companies sought out utilitarian facilities that they could partition into cloistered editing and production rooms, more like Outside Editorial are seeking to switch to a more inviting modern office workplace.
“One of the things that I really try to focus on doing when working with these tenants is to get to know their taste so I can narrow it down to the three or four or five top spaces,” Nissani said. “I don’t think many brokers understand yet the kinds of spaces these companies are now looking for.”
The editing industry, Nissani said, has also been migrating to Soho from its traditional center in midtown, in large part because the area has a concentration of production companies that hire these editorial firms.
“Producers work crazy hours and they want to be within walking distance from the editing firms that they work with,” Nissani said. “That’s part of what’s driving the move.”
In the case of recording studios, Nissani has become adept at difusing the concerns landlords often have regarding noise. He recently put the sound recording firm Shout It Out Loud into a 2,700 s/f space at 39 West 38th Street.
“There are soundproofing issues that need to be worked out in these deals,” he said. “You negotiate the understanding that the appropriate work will be done and the neighboring tenants will have their right to quiet.”
While major commercial leasing firms like CB Richard Ellis, Cushman & Wakefield, Jones Lang LaSalle and Newmark tend to dominate deal-making in midtown and lower Manhattan, the Nissani brothers specialize in midtown south, a neighborhood that caters to smaller tenants and creative industries and is an area of the city where boutique office brokerages can thrive.
Jeff also has a roster of clients and has handled a number of significant deals in the area. Like Erik, he too has cultivated certain specialties. An aficionado of martial arts who trains in Muay Thai and boxing, Jeff recently brokered a lease for Evolution Muay Thai, one of the gyms where he works out. He is currently looking for over 10,000 s/f for a new boxing gym to be started by an ex-welterweight champion.
