The niche market of small, upscale office developments has lured some high-end tenants willing to pay up for an amenity-packed floor or two.
Now some developers are seeing another potential opportunity for these so-called boutique buildings: as headquarters for big firms looking to lease entire buildings.
These office buildings, often stamped with edgy or historic architecture and located in neighborhoods such as Chelsea or the Meatpacking District, are attracting established companies that in many cases are looking to use real estate to recast their image in an economy where “disrupters” like Amazon.com Inc. are in vogue.
One of the more recent high-profile leases was Aetna Inc.’s deal earlier this year to establish new headquarters and take all the office space at 61 Ninth Ave., a $152 million West Chelsea development of Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates.