The Garment District is the place to be for biz

Once the textile and fashion hub of New York City, the Garment District is now changing rapidly as more businesses from industries outside of fashion are moving in.

From advertising agencies and architecture firms to creative workspaces, tech, graphic design and lighting companies, the Garment District is now saturated with a new kind of creative buzz.

It is one which Garment District Alliance President, Barbara Randall says makes the area a “very exciting place to be right now.”

“It’s changed dramatically over the last five years,” she said. “It used to be a neighborhood that closed at 6 p.m. and everybody went home. Now with the mix of businesses in the buildings, it goes much later into the evening.”

Randall notes that 146 architectural firms and more than 100 tech companies in addition to advertising agencies like Razorfish and R/GA are attracting an influx of young professionals, new restaurants and bars.

“Over 50% of the tenancy here is non-fashion now,” she said, noting that many of the new tenants are small businesses with anywhere between five and 35 employees.

“It hasn’t been replaced with H&M or The Gap,” Randall said. “As you walk through the streets you’ll see interesting new uses of buildings by more independent companies. And a fair number of folks from the fashion industry are still here.”

Places like M&J Trimming, which has been in the neighborhood since the 1960s and specializes in the sale of ribbons, buttons, crystals and other DIY products still remain along with other bead shops on Sixth Avenue and fashion showrooms and wholesale outlets down the side streets.

Michael J. Cohen, owner of M&J Trimming at 1008 Ave. of the Americas says he likes the transformation.

“It’s still authentic even with the new businesses,” he said. “It’s good for people looking for something offbeat and grounded.”

In recent years Cohen has had to change his business to a more consumer-friendly one as facets of the garment industry migrated out of the area, many to overseas. That migration is a big reason why the district has changed so much.

He says the neighborhood’s grittiness is part of its allure.

“It still retains the old sense of New York,” he said. “To us this is a magical place. We couldn’t exist anywhere else.”

When creative workspace Grind moved to the Garment District in July, sales and marketing manager Anthony Marinos said the company wanted to be in the Garment District because there was nothing like it in the area.

“It offered lots of space and it’s close to all types of public transportation,” he said of the 14,374-square-foot space at 1412 Broadway.

The Garment District was never known as a residential spot. But as the various new industries opened up shop in the area in recent years, several new residential developments have been built, including the luxury Greywood, Emerald Green and Crystal Green buildings, adding to long-time residences like The Atlas and The Hartford co-op building.