Agency Leasing:

Medical Office Space | Columbia Doctors

One Pondfield Road is a 35,000 square foot building built in the 1960s.  Containing primarily medical office space, the building is situated adjacent to the Metro North train station in Bronxville, New York.  In 2007, the building was purchased by a very large New York City-based multifamily real estate owner.

Subsequent to their purchase, the owner began to see vacancy in the building slowly increase.  Some long-term tenants began to leave the building, as doctors retired and closed down their practice, and as smaller practices were absorbed by larger medical groups such as Westmed, HealthWell and others.  Admiral was charged with refilling the space.

In the wake of the Great Recession, Westchester office vacancy had risen to roughly 19%.  Tenants were few and far between.  The fact that the building did not have designated parking was an additional challenge.  It was difficult to entice potential tenants to see the space – or to make reasonable offers.

• Admiral methodically canvassed local tenants and generated interest from two local medical groups to take a portion of the vacant space.
• Soon after, Lawrence Hospital – located across the Metro-North train tracks from One Pondfield Road – merged with New York-Presbyterian Hospital. This provided an opportunity for Admiral to reach out to New York-Presbyterian’s real estate representatives to make them aware of the medical space available at nearby One Pondfield.
• Although New York–Presbyterian was not interested, Admiral reached out to its affiliate, Columbia Doctors Medical Group, which is one of the largest multi-specialty practices in the Westchester area. Part of Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia Doctors Medical Group was expanding, and had the benefit of strong credit.
• Columbia Doctors entered into a lease with ownership for a portion of the ground floor, as well as for the majority of the 2nd floor of the building. Approximately one year later, Columbia Doctors exercised their right of first offer (ROFO) for additional space on the ground floor.
• These deals brought occupancy back to pre-Great Recession levels, increasing cash flow and strengthening the overall credit of the building’s tenancy.
• One Pondfield’s proximity to the Metro-North train station and to New York-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital continues to make it a convenient location for many medical offices. One of the initial challenges in leasing the building – parking – will soon be minimized, as a new public parking area immediately behind the building is nearing completion.