When Brittny Drye, the founder of the LGBTQ+ wedding magazine Love Inc., was in search of a locale last year to celebrate her publication’s print debut, she knew she needed a space that would resonate with her guests.
“We’re a non-traditional wedding magazine and wanted a location that matched our distinctive style,” she said.
Her event planner, Brian Green, told her about Chelsea Industrial, located on the ground floor of two luxury rental buildings in Chelsea, AVA High Line and Avalon West Chelsea. Available to rent through Blace, an online marketplace for events, the 22,000-square-foot space was the ideal setting to showcase and fête the newly launched print product.
The cocktail party for 75 featured rainbow-colored florals, along with a wall splashed with “Love Wins” and “Equality.”
“Many of the people who came commented on how cool the setting was,” said Drye. “It is such a versatile, blank space of a venue that we could really make it our own.”
Drye’s feedback is precisely what Blace set out to achieve when it launched just prior to the pandemic in early 2020, according to its COO, Melissa Robinson. The company has exclusive arrangements with several upscale residential developments around the city to lease out their event and amenity spaces to non-residents for private gatherings. The portfolio also includes commercial properties.
In addition to Chelsea Industrial, the possibilities include Herald Square Jewel in Herald Towers on West 34th Street, itself a 4,000-square-foot venue with Empire State Building views. A terrace, card and pool tables, a formal dining area and four seats from the old Yankee Stadium are other dazzling highlights for event attendees there.
In Brooklyn’s Bushwick, Blace rents out three distinct areas located within a residential complex named The Denizen: a biophilic-themed lobby with a bar and a treehouse, a lounge with three fireplaces and city views, plus a test kitchen with industrial décor.
The company’s collection continues to grow, says Robinson, and it even expanded to Los Angeles earlier this year.
“Our idea was to take advantage of these gorgeous spaces in residential developments that generally tend to be underutilized,” she said. “You’re not having your event in the same old places that everyone knows.”
So far, Blace has been a hit. It saw more than $5 million in revenue in 2022 and is expected to rake in more than double that amount this year, according to Robinson. Rental fees, which Blace shares with the building, start at $5,000 for a half day and go up from there. (Robinson declined to disclose the split.) Clients range from deep-pocketed New Yorkers throwing social shindigs to global enterprises such as Coca-Cola, BMW, JPMorgan and Grand Marnier hosting corporate events.
The wedding planning site The Knot even looked to Blace to find a location for its annual gala in 2022. Held at Chelsea Industrial, the party had more than 1,000 attendees and was a big success, says Susie Diharce, the senior director of experiential marketing for The Knot Worldwide.
“We heard very positive reviews of the space from our guests,” she said. “Chelsea Industrial really checked off all the boxes. The versatility allowed us to bring The Knot brand to life in a way that was limited in other spaces.”
Blace’s concept is smart, according to Douglas Elliman agent Deepti Mittal, for both its bottom line and the buildings on the platform.
“The developments have the opportunity to generate extra money and market themselves to the public,” she said. “Over the last few years, buildings have created these extravagant amenities that residents largely don’t use because many keep their apartments as pied-à-terres.”
Amenities are also expensive to maintain, adds Mittal, so money from outside sources helps offset the pricey upkeep.
“The people who rent out these spaces get a stylish setting to impress their guests, and developers get more money and free marketing. It’s a win-win,” she said.
Michael Valdes, the chief growth officer of the global real estate company EXP Realty, agrees and says that the extra dollars on a building’s balance sheet could help avoid future assessments when boards look to increase maintenance costs for improvements.
“It’s a unique but great way to increase income,” he said.
There’s also the perk of some advertising.
Several of the buildings on Blace’s platform are managed by the real estate investment firm AvalonBay, and Lindsay Romano, its vice president of asset management, says that partnering with Blace has had a two-fold benefit.
“It has brought in additional revenue and drawn attention to our buildings,” she said. “We have had instances where people are at an event and want to see an apartment because they like the building.”
Parties aside, clients also rent venues through Blace for intimate occasions.
Geoffrey Ponting, 38, a former city dweller working for Apple who now lives in Austin, Texas, proposed to his fiancée, Alexa Teed, 29, a tech marketing specialist, at Ramscale Studio in the West Village in March.
Set on top of the Westbeth — a 19th-century building that Robert DeNiro, Vin Diesel and other celebrities have called home — it features spectacular panoramas of Lower Manhattan, the Hudson River and New York Harbor. The space was formerly the penthouse apartment of the building’s landlord, says Blace’s account manager Katelin Farrell, and is a popular pick for romantic celebrations.
Ponting found Ramscale through an online search.
“I searched for rooftops to propose, and this popped up,” he said. “It’s very different than the cliché places like the Brooklyn Bridge.”
In the end, it’s happily ever after. The couple got married on September 23rd.
“It felt local, authentic and secretive and was exactly what I was looking for,” added Ponting.