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History of Tribeca Buildings
Support by Design Is Closing After 20 Years
Support by Design, the pediatric therapy gym at 138 Reade, is closing after a 20-year run. “We have been informed that our lease will not be renewed and we will need to vacate by the end of August 2018,” wrote founder Linda Rowe in a farewell letter. “We have been working diligently to find an affordable and suitable space in Tribeca to no avail. We have contacted other gyms to see if we could rent space or work out arrangements with them and again have not come up with a workable solution past August 30. This leaves us with the very sad news that after 20 years of being in Tribeca serving Manhattan and Brooklyn communities providing OT, PT and Speech services, we are having to close or doors.” The full text of the letter is below, and there’s more on Rowe and Support by Design in this 2003 Downtown Express profile.
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That’s awful. My son had such a great experience there. The neighborhood needs them.
So sad. This place has helped so many children in need of their services. To bad the landlord can’t find it in their hearts to have hem stay. Yet again another one to add to the graveyard wasteland of “for rent” in Tribeca.
This one truly breaks my heart.
It is not clear who exactly is the landlord here who refused to renew the lease.
Per ACRIS in 2007 this commercial unit was deeded to (i.e., bought by) “EDAER VENTURES, LLC,” with “Linda Rowe” signing as a manager of the LLC. There is no new deed since. “Linda Rowe” signed a 2017 mortgage on the premises as one (1) of two (2) “managing members” of the LLC, per ACRIS. NYS Dept of State still lists “Linda Rowe” as the DOS process recipient for the LLC, an active entity.
This is such sad news. Linda and Betty and all the therapists at Support By Design have been a cornerstone of the neighborhood. They helped all of my kids and many of their friends so much through the years.
This is so sad for the families and the neighborhood. We went here this year for OT and it made a world of difference in supporting my son through kindergarten. It also meant not having to travel and leave downtown. Greedy landlords strike again.
What “greedy landlord”? This is a condo unit apparently owned by a company owned by the owners of the therapy business who occupy said condo unit, according to public records. (See above.)
In that light, the quoted farewell letter may be a more palatable yetb less candid explanation for the closure.
Thanks James, that is my understanding as well, they own the unit.
Thank you all for your kindness over the past 20 years that we have served this community. As far as ownership perhaps the better story is looking at the deed.
Ok. Here’s the 2007 Real Property Transfer Report that accompanied the deed, showing the buyer in the lower left corner.
https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentImageView?doc_id=2007030701056001&sup_page=9
Here’s the 2017 mortgage tax affidavit:
https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentImageView?doc_id=2017012600216007&sup_page=20
There are no other deeds filed since on ACRIS.
Maybe one is to be filed shortly because the premises were sold by the occupants, but it seems to me that that would hardly be fairly described as a long-term tenant being dispossessed by the “landlord” as most readers would think about it.
Based on this info, sure sounds like a self-inflicted wound. There would not be a lease or a landlord if they indeed owned the commercial unit.
We are very saddened to hear about the closing of SBD. We are here to service the TriBeCa community. We are a wonderful personalized therapeutic center 2 blocks away named — Chatty Child. Chatty Child provides SP/OT/PT. Chatty Child accepts RSA, EI, and private pay. Please contact us if you need support for the upcoming school year: Info@chattychild.com or chattychild.com.
I believe the developer who lives in the building is the owner of the commercial space. Very sad to see them go as I have always heard they provided a steadfast service for children.
Going way back it was a car rental and a handy one at that!
Perhaps reading the deed would help you to gain a bigger picture. Will Suarez if he would, might also help to fill you in. Sounds like you have not done your homework.
Also it is curious to think if a tenant such as Support By Design is not able to meet their rent then how would Edaer Ventures pay the mortgage and expenses? We knew back in 2015 that the space was not working out for us and tried desperately to make decisions to change the course. That’s where Will Suarez
Might shed some light.
More importantly …Yes Chatty Child would also be a great practice to take on our cases! Hats off to Heather!
The premises owner and tenant here share managers. It is undeniable, despite all the cryptic responses. (The managing members of Edaer Ventures listed on the 2017 mortgage doc linked to above for the commercial unit were “Linda Rowe” and “Betty Eng Lee,” the latter having coincidentally has the same name as Support by Design’s “administrative coordinator.”)
Maybe you sold the premises or the landlord entity Edaer Ventures itself after signing for the mortgage. Maybe you had a silent, unlisted limited partner hidden by a nondisclosure agreement and who owned the lion’s share of the landlord entity and thus the landlord charged the tenant a fair market, arms-length rent. Maybe there is no other landlord and it was all just transfer pricing from one hand to the other.
Whatever the case, it sounds like a terribly burdensome story for Will Suarez, whoever that is, to keep.
Thank you so much for the endorsement Linda. We have loved collaborating with you over the years. You will be truly missed.