Why Are There So Many Empty Storefronts in NYC?; LIC’s Citigroup Building May Become Condos

http://www.washingtonsquareparkblog.com/2015/05/26/is-greenwich-village-now-geography-of-nowhere/

“Compounding the problem is the fact that the closed storefronts often stay that way, sometimes for years, in an apparent contradiction of the law of supply and demand. If a storefront remains empty for a long time (like this restaurant, which has been shuttered for more than six years), basic economics suggest that the price being charged is too high. So why doesn’t the owner lower the rents?

There are potentially some tax benefits for the owners of empty storefronts. But the more likely explanation is that landlords are willing to lose a tenant and leave a storefront empty as a form of speculation. They’ll trade a short-term loss for the chance eventually to land a much richer tenant, like a bank branch or national retail chain, which might pay a different magnitude of rent.”