Suzanne Miller is a prolific Mrs. Fixit for the New York City business community, dedicated to solving problems for big business, real estate owners, and the city’s temporary workforce.
An innovator by nature, Miller started her business in the New York real estate industry, Empire State Properties in 1986. In five boroughs, Miller saw an opportunity where some thought there wasn’t.
In a recent profile story with New York Real Estate Outlet The only true, Miller reflected on the early days of her career managing real estate in Times Square, namely the Executive Plaza. She remembered his difficulties with so few people wanting to move to Times Square.
“Nobody wanted to be in Times Square,” she told the publication. “We needed to find a new use for the 445-room tower, so we converted it into short-term furnished corporate housing.”
Miller mentions that one of her first clients when she started her business was Le Bernadin – the first and exclusive French restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. The company wanted to open its flagship restaurant in New York and buy apartments. With the French company, she saw the promise of New York’s West Side and an opportunity to come.
“Le Berniden came to New York and they came to me to buy their first apartments,” she says. “I quickly aligned the new restaurant with apartments on the West Side, which made me believe in the area. I’ve done the same with various other clients, matching companies moving into the area with investors from around the world, finding short-term AAA tenants for my investors, and meeting the short-term needs of the business.”
After nearly four decades, her company continues to thrive and offer the same innovative solution to meet the business and personal needs of New Yorkers, their businesses, and their workforce.
“We now manage about 500 properties for these investors but remain a boutique business,” she adds. “My clients ranging from JP Morgan to The New York Times — and many others you’ve heard of — still have housing and longer-stay needs. The idea was, and still is, to allow people to travel to work without living in and out of hotel rooms. I was the first to do this because I realized that there were companies in Midtown and there was no one to meet the needs of the companies for longer stays in Midtown Manhattan.”
Her customer portfolio also includes the banking, consulting, publishing and medical industries.
Interestingly, although much has changed in New York over the past four decades, this need for long-term rentals has stood the test of time – a testament to New York’s viability as the economic epicenter of the world.
And alongside this ongoing need, Suzanne Miller has also remained a constant. Her success has been featured in many of the leading publications in the New York metropolitan area, including but not limited to The New York Times, Crains New York and Dan’s papers.
As their business continues to stand the test of time, it is evolving rapidly. Miller and Empire State Properties will soon transition from short-term to long-term or extended-stay brokerage while continuing to adhere to their company’s brand of The Single Source for Real Estate, offering rentals from one month to one year.
Empire State Properties is still primarily city-based, but the counties aren’t the limit of what’s possible, Miller says. She notes that she has recently completed a number of deals in the East End to meet the needs of businesses in the area. Over the past two years, she has completed several deals in the Hamptons, including a nine-acre estate in East Hampton for homes in Noyac and East Quogue.
And while she spends time in the Hamptons for work, she also spends time here personally – enjoying the beautiful scenic East End in Sag Harbor during the summer months.
“In 1997, I saw the beauty of Sag Harbor and bought a beautiful waterfront home in Redwood,” she recalls. “We did a major home renovation and had the nicest home in the neighborhood, which is now one of the most desirable communities in the Hamptons. I still own the house and love using it all year round.
“The East End is cosmopolitan, relaxing and quiet,” she adds. “I always visit the local restaurants, but my favorite is the American Hotel – my friends refer to it as ‘Suzanne’s house’. I play tennis every morning at East Hampton Indoor Tennis and can often be found outside cycling, but also at home writing and drawing.”
She concludes, “The East End has it all with an easy drive to New York City.”
Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and Associate Editor of Dan’s papers.
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