Conservative Congressman’s Star Power Extends Beyond Florida District

But the most compelling part of Representative Allen B. West of Florida is his own biography, there for all to see: an African-American Tea Party activist Republican congressman and ally of hard-right Israelis who, after his beloved career in the Army ended under a cloud, defeated the sitting Democrat in a largely white, politically polarized district here and quickly became one of the right’s most visible spokesmen.

Mr. West’s fans in his district, which stretches over two counties along the east coast of Florida, are both numerous and loud; hundreds fill his town hall-style meetings, many of them favoring T-shirts bearing his image. At a recent Tea Party rally in Washington, supporters flocked to him like sea gulls to a crust of baguette. Among the 87 House Republican freshmen, he ranks third in the latest fund-raising period for his re-election campaign; his $433,551 haul came largely through individual donations.

Mr. West’s popularity among conservatives goes far beyond South Florida. He was chosen to give the keynote speech in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and is frequently featured on the Fox News Channel and in other conservative settings where he enjoys explaining, reiterating or unleashing any number of incendiary remarks concerning what he often calls “the other side.”

There was his recent observation that liberal women “have been neutering American men,” and that the president of the United States is a “low-level socialist agitator.”

Mr. West scoffs at the notion that he has become a sensation. “I don’t drink my own tub water or read my own press,” he said in a brief interview before a town hall-style meeting here this week. “I tell the truth and I stand on convictions and you know what you’re getting.”

While Mr. West’s decision to cast himself as an iconoclast has made him a conservative star, it is unclear how well it will serve him as he seeks re-election next year in this swing district, where far more voters are likely to come out for a presidential election than in the midterm cycle.

With its two new Congressional seats, Florida will likely receive intensified national attention among swing states in 2012, perhaps highlighting this district — which was central to the disputed 2000 presidential recount — as one of the best tests of the Tea Party’s endurance outside reliably Republican districts.

Democrats have singled out Mr. West as one of their key freshmen to defeat. “He is the king of rhetoric,” said Mitch Ceasar, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Broward County. “And that is what separated him in 2010. But what swept him in then may be the gust of wind that sends him out.”

The 22nd Congressional District, which may well be redrawn to favor Republicans, is roughly 48 percent quite conservative, and another 48 percent quite liberal, say officials from both parties, who also say each party covets the remaining 4 percent, who are swing voters. The district went for Senator Barack Obama and Senator John Kerry in their respective presidential races.

Mr. West’s place in the Democratic crosshairs stems, he said, from the fact “that I scare the liberal establishment.”

“You’re looking at a black man who was brought up in the inner cities, career military, a conservative, married going on 22 two years, two beautiful daughters, and for whatever reason that really does scare them,” he said. “My theory is that for whatever reason I could cause others like me to reject these liberal social-welfare policies.”

Mr. West, 50, was born and raised in Atlanta, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee on an R.O.T.C. scholarship and holds two master’s degrees.

In the Army, he rose to battalion commander during the war in Iraq. His 22-year military career came to an end in that theater when he was relieved of his command after using a gun to coerce information from an Iraqi police officer during an interrogation. He retired with full rank, honors and benefits in 2004, and moved to Florida with his family. After a short stint as a high school teacher, he worked as a civilian adviser to the Afghan army, ran and lost against Representative Ron Klein in 2008, then came back to handily defeat Mr. Klein, a Democrat, in 2010.

Mr. West’s political beliefs hew closely to the most conservative members of the House; he was among the 59 House Republicans who voted against a deal worked out with Democrats to finance the government through the rest of the year, arguing that the included spending cuts did not go far enough, and says he will not vote to lift the nation’s debt ceiling without more cuts.

His views on the Middle East tend to tack even more to the right of the strongest supporters of Israel. During his campaign, Mr. West posted on his Web site a statement saying: “I do not support any creation of a Palestinian state, to do so would be to create a terrorist state. There is already a state for the Arabic people residing in the region called Palestine, Jordan.”

His recent remarks to a conservative Christian women’s group that women affiliated with liberal groups “have been neutering American men” are the sort that tend to attract attention. “America needs strong men,” Mr. West explained, adding, “the feminist movement was a great thing to push the equality of women but that does not mean you have to make men feel inferior or degrade them.”

Mr. West said he tends to keep to himself on Capitol Hill, where he is busy with hearings, meetings and constant reading. “So the end of the day I’m kind of tired,” he said, “about 10 or 10:30 at night I get to my little bat cave, then I’m back up at 5:30 to get in a five- or six-mile run and I’m back at it again. So right now it is not so much about hanging out with people as it is about making sure I am developing myself as a capable legislator.”

Ron Nixon contributed reporting from Washington.

 

Square Feet: Manhattan’s Tech Start-Ups Settle in the Flatiron District and Chelsea

“When people talk about Silicon Alley, it’s always been just a concept,” said Michael Kirven, the principal of Bluewolf Inc., a technical consulting company that has moved three times within the Flatiron district in the last decade. “Within five years, you’re going to have a true Silicon Alley. Every company that’s a tech start-up will be here.”

The older, small office buildings in the Flatiron district have attracted start-ups, while large companies like Google and IAC/InterActiveCorp have found homes in Chelsea.

It is no accident, for example, that General Assembly, a new educational institute, meeting place and co-working environment devoted to technology entrepreneurs, was established at 902 Broadway, at East 20th Street, in the middle of the Flatiron district.

“There were a lot of young companies, a lot of designers and artists, and a lot of venture capitalists working in that neighborhood,” said Adam Pritzker, a co-founder of General Assembly. “There were a lot of these pieces that we wanted to put together.”

Craig Nevill-Manning, the engineering director at Google who is largely responsible for the company’s New York presence, said, “New York has not traditionally been known as a center of technological innovation, but it is true now.” He added, “There’s a pretty exciting start-up scene now that there wasn’t in 2003, when I arrived.”

Much of what attracts those start-ups is the loftlike space that the Flatiron district offers, in relatively small footprints. Adams & Company, a property management and leasing company that has almost two million square feet in the Flatiron district under management, oversees spaces as small as 1,500 square feet.

“You have a lot of buildings with high ceilings and natural light, overlooking Madison Square Park,” said James Buslik, principal of Adams & Company, who leased space recently to several tech companies, including Mashable, Demand Media, Tremor Media and Bluewolf. “Creative people find creative space.”

After an exhaustive search through much of Manhattan, David Mojica, the facilities director of Demand Media, said he was drawn to the exposed ventilation system and ceilings at 121 East 24th Street.

“It definitely has that upbeat technology vibe when you walk in,” Mr. Mojica said. “As soon as we saw it, we fell in love with it.”

Bluewolf has been in the neighborhood a bit longer, nearly a decade. The company recently signed a 12-year lease for 12,000 square feet at 11 East 26th Street, the same building that houses Yelp, the online city guide based in San Francisco. Bluewolf chose the building for its central location, the character of the space and its proximity to many of the company’s customers, Mr. Kirven of Bluewolf said. The private roof deck did not hurt, either.

“You get the amenities of a Midtown building but the flexibility of a loft in Brooklyn,” Mr. Kirven said. “Obviously without the Midtown rents, either.”

Prices are substantially lower than in Midtown and other prime office neighborhoods. Along Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues, rents can range from $50 to $75 per square foot, said Grant Greenspan, a principal of the Kaufman Organization. On the side streets, prices can fall to $26 or $27.

The Kaufman Organization has been getting more involved with the Flatiron district. In December the company bought 100-104 Fifth Avenue, a building with 275,000 square feet of space. Apple snapped up a short-term lease of 10,000 square feet on the sixth floor for its mobile advertising network, iAd.

The Kaufman Organization has also helped Paperless Post, Break Media and Zemoga find space in the neighborhood.

“You’ve got everyone from someone who’s selling a phone app to online retail,” Mr. Greenspan said. “Anything in terms of taking advantage of the Internet.”

Another appealing characteristic of the Flatiron district is that the landlords seem to be flexible about the lengths of leases. A short lease is a major advantage for start-ups, because they often grow at an exponential rate, or disappear, in the blink of an eye.

Bonobos, an online men’s apparel store, is only three and a half years old and has already outgrown two offices (three if the apartment of the founder and chief executive, Andy Dunn, is included). After looking at 70 possibilities throughout downtown Manhattan, the company signed a three-year lease at 45 West 25th Street, about 10,000 square feet of space.

“A lot of landlords are looking at 10-year leases,” Mr. Dunn said. “As a start-up, there’s no way to do that. Even a three-year lease was a scary thought.”

One more perk of the Flatiron district is its proximity to venture capital, which provides the rocket fuel for start-ups. A number of venture capital businesses, including Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital and IA Ventures, have offices nearby.

If start-ups look to Flatiron for its small spaces, larger tech companies are choosing Chelsea for its sprawling floors. IAC, for example, opened its Frank Gehry-designed world headquarters at 555 West 18th Street in 2007. And Google moved to the hulking 111 Eighth Avenue in 2006 partly so all employees could be on the same floor, which was 200,000 square feet — or about five acres. In December, the company bought the entire building, 2.9 million square feet.

“There’s a psychological barrier to going to a different floor to talk to somebody,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “Having 800 people on a single floor means we’re much more productive and much more creative as a result.”

Google also has leased space in nearby Chelsea Market, which spans 9th and 10th Avenues between 15th and 16th Streets. Of that building’s 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, 780,000 square feet is leased to technology and media companies like Scripps Networks (which owns the Food Network) and Yext, an Internet marketing company, said Michael Phillips, a managing director of Jamestown Properties, which owns the building.

“I don’t think Midtown has inventory that’s interesting the way this is interesting,” Mr. Phillips said. “And I think the public amenities are almost incomparable,” he added, referring to Hudson River Park, the High Line, Chelsea Piers and the concourse of Chelsea Market.

Many companies have chosen Silicon Alley to be close to similar companies, which might be their clients, their suppliers, their competitors or a source of new hires. Mr. Dunn of Bonobos, for example, hired his vice president of merchandising from J. Crew, which is at 770 Broadway at East Ninth Street, and his vice president of marketing from the Gilt Groupe, at 2 Park Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets, both nearby.

For Google, on the other hand, the proximity has not been that important.

“From a recruiting point of view, a lot of those connections get made virtually,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “They know where to find us online.”

 

Square Feet: Manhattan’s Tech Start-Ups Settle in the Flatiron District and Chelsea

“When people talk about Silicon Alley, it’s always been just a concept,” said Michael Kirven, the principal of Bluewolf Inc., a technical consulting company that has moved three times within the Flatiron district in the last decade. “Within five years, you’re going to have a true Silicon Alley. Every company that’s a tech start-up will be here.”

The older, small office buildings in the Flatiron district have attracted start-ups, while large companies like Google and IAC/InterActiveCorp have found homes in Chelsea.

It is no accident, for example, that General Assembly, a new educational institute, meeting place and co-working environment devoted to technology entrepreneurs, was established at 902 Broadway, at East 20th Street, in the middle of the Flatiron district.

“There were a lot of young companies, a lot of designers and artists, and a lot of venture capitalists working in that neighborhood,” said Adam Pritzker, a co-founder of General Assembly. “There were a lot of these pieces that we wanted to put together.”

Craig Nevill-Manning, the engineering director at Google who is largely responsible for the company’s New York presence, said, “New York has not traditionally been known as a center of technological innovation, but it is true now.” He added, “There’s a pretty exciting start-up scene now that there wasn’t in 2003, when I arrived.”

Much of what attracts those start-ups is the loftlike space that the Flatiron district offers, in relatively small footprints. Adams & Company, a property management and leasing company that has almost two million square feet in the Flatiron district under management, oversees spaces as small as 1,500 square feet.

“You have a lot of buildings with high ceilings and natural light, overlooking Madison Square Park,” said James Buslik, principal of Adams & Company, who leased space recently to several tech companies, including Mashable, Demand Media, Tremor Media and Bluewolf. “Creative people find creative space.”

After an exhaustive search through much of Manhattan, David Mojica, the facilities director of Demand Media, said he was drawn to the exposed ventilation system and ceilings at 121 East 24th Street.

“It definitely has that upbeat technology vibe when you walk in,” Mr. Mojica said. “As soon as we saw it, we fell in love with it.”

Bluewolf has been in the neighborhood a bit longer, nearly a decade. The company recently signed a 12-year lease for 12,000 square feet at 11 East 26th Street, the same building that houses Yelp, the online city guide based in San Francisco. Bluewolf chose the building for its central location, the character of the space and its proximity to many of the company’s customers, Mr. Kirven of Bluewolf said. The private roof deck did not hurt, either.

“You get the amenities of a Midtown building but the flexibility of a loft in Brooklyn,” Mr. Kirven said. “Obviously without the Midtown rents, either.”

Prices are substantially lower than in Midtown and other prime office neighborhoods. Along Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues, rents can range from $50 to $75 per square foot, said Grant Greenspan, a principal of the Kaufman Organization. On the side streets, prices can fall to $26 or $27.

The Kaufman Organization has been getting more involved with the Flatiron district. In December the company bought 100-104 Fifth Avenue, a building with 275,000 square feet of space. Apple snapped up a short-term lease of 10,000 square feet on the sixth floor for its mobile advertising network, iAd.

The Kaufman Organization has also helped Paperless Post, Break Media and Zemoga find space in the neighborhood.

“You’ve got everyone from someone who’s selling a phone app to online retail,” Mr. Greenspan said. “Anything in terms of taking advantage of the Internet.”

Another appealing characteristic of the Flatiron district is that the landlords seem to be flexible about the lengths of leases. A short lease is a major advantage for start-ups, because they often grow at an exponential rate, or disappear, in the blink of an eye.

Bonobos, an online men’s apparel store, is only three and a half years old and has already outgrown two offices (three if the apartment of the founder and chief executive, Andy Dunn, is included). After looking at 70 possibilities throughout downtown Manhattan, the company signed a three-year lease at 45 West 25th Street, about 10,000 square feet of space.

“A lot of landlords are looking at 10-year leases,” Mr. Dunn said. “As a start-up, there’s no way to do that. Even a three-year lease was a scary thought.”

One more perk of the Flatiron district is its proximity to venture capital, which provides the rocket fuel for start-ups. A number of venture capital businesses, including Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital and IA Ventures, have offices nearby.

If start-ups look to Flatiron for its small spaces, larger tech companies are choosing Chelsea for its sprawling floors. IAC, for example, opened its Frank Gehry-designed world headquarters at 555 West 18th Street in 2007. And Google moved to the hulking 111 Eighth Avenue in 2006 partly so all employees could be on the same floor, which was 200,000 square feet — or about five acres. In December, the company bought the entire building, 2.9 million square feet.

“There’s a psychological barrier to going to a different floor to talk to somebody,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “Having 800 people on a single floor means we’re much more productive and much more creative as a result.”

Google also has leased space in nearby Chelsea Market, which spans 9th and 10th Avenues between 15th and 16th Streets. Of that building’s 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, 780,000 square feet is leased to technology and media companies like Scripps Networks (which owns the Food Network) and Yext, an Internet marketing company, said Michael Phillips, a managing director of Jamestown Properties, which owns the building.

“I don’t think Midtown has inventory that’s interesting the way this is interesting,” Mr. Phillips said. “And I think the public amenities are almost incomparable,” he added, referring to Hudson River Park, the High Line, Chelsea Piers and the concourse of Chelsea Market.

Many companies have chosen Silicon Alley to be close to similar companies, which might be their clients, their suppliers, their competitors or a source of new hires. Mr. Dunn of Bonobos, for example, hired his vice president of merchandising from J. Crew, which is at 770 Broadway at East Ninth Street, and his vice president of marketing from the Gilt Groupe, at 2 Park Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets, both nearby.

For Google, on the other hand, the proximity has not been that important.

“From a recruiting point of view, a lot of those connections get made virtually,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “They know where to find us online.”

 

Square Feet: Manhattan’s Tech Start-Ups Settle in the Flatiron District and Chelsea

 

“When people talk about Silicon Alley, it’s always been just a concept,” said Michael Kirven, the principal of Bluewolf Inc., a technical consulting company that has moved three times within the Flatiron district in the last decade. “Within five years, you’re going to have a true Silicon Alley. Every company that’s a tech start-up will be here.”

The older, small office buildings in the Flatiron district have attracted start-ups, while large companies like Google and IAC/InterActiveCorp have found homes in Chelsea.

It is no accident, for example, that General Assembly, a new educational institute, meeting place and co-working environment devoted to technology entrepreneurs, was established at 902 Broadway, at East 20th Street, in the middle of the Flatiron district.

“There were a lot of young companies, a lot of designers and artists, and a lot of venture capitalists working in that neighborhood,” said Adam Pritzker, a co-founder of General Assembly. “There were a lot of these pieces that we wanted to put together.”

Craig Nevill-Manning, the engineering director at Google who is largely responsible for the company’s New York presence, said, “New York has not traditionally been known as a center of technological innovation, but it is true now.” He added, “There’s a pretty exciting start-up scene now that there wasn’t in 2003, when I arrived.”

Much of what attracts those start-ups is the loftlike space that the Flatiron district offers, in relatively small footprints. Adams & Company, a property management and leasing company that has almost two million square feet in the Flatiron district under management, oversees spaces as small as 1,500 square feet.

“You have a lot of buildings with high ceilings and natural light, overlooking Madison Square Park,” said James Buslik, principal of Adams & Company, who leased space recently to several tech companies, including Mashable, Demand Media, Tremor Media and Bluewolf. “Creative people find creative space.”

After an exhaustive search through much of Manhattan, David Mojica, the facilities director of Demand Media, said he was drawn to the exposed ventilation system and ceilings at 121 East 24th Street.

“It definitely has that upbeat technology vibe when you walk in,” Mr. Mojica said. “As soon as we saw it, we fell in love with it.”

Bluewolf has been in the neighborhood a bit longer, nearly a decade. The company recently signed a 12-year lease for 12,000 square feet at 11 East 26th Street, the same building that houses Yelp, the online city guide based in San Francisco. Bluewolf chose the building for its central location, the character of the space and its proximity to many of the company’s customers, Mr. Kirven of Bluewolf said. The private roof deck did not hurt, either.

“You get the amenities of a Midtown building but the flexibility of a loft in Brooklyn,” Mr. Kirven said. “Obviously without the Midtown rents, either.”

Prices are substantially lower than in Midtown and other prime office neighborhoods. Along Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues, rents can range from $50 to $75 per square foot, said Grant Greenspan, a principal of the Kaufman Organization. On the side streets, prices can fall to $26 or $27.

The Kaufman Organization has been getting more involved with the Flatiron district. In December the company bought 100-104 Fifth Avenue, a building with 275,000 square feet of space. Apple snapped up a short-term lease of 10,000 square feet on the sixth floor for its mobile advertising network, iAd.

The Kaufman Organization has also helped Paperless Post, Break Media and Zemoga find space in the neighborhood.

“You’ve got everyone from someone who’s selling a phone app to online retail,” Mr. Greenspan said. “Anything in terms of taking advantage of the Internet.”

Another appealing characteristic of the Flatiron district is that the landlords seem to be flexible about the lengths of leases. A short lease is a major advantage for start-ups, because they often grow at an exponential rate, or disappear, in the blink of an eye.

Bonobos, an online men’s apparel store, is only three and a half years old and has already outgrown two offices (three if the apartment of the founder and chief executive, Andy Dunn, is included). After looking at 70 possibilities throughout downtown Manhattan, the company signed a three-year lease at 45 West 25th Street, about 10,000 square feet of space.

“A lot of landlords are looking at 10-year leases,” Mr. Dunn said. “As a start-up, there’s no way to do that. Even a three-year lease was a scary thought.”

One more perk of the Flatiron district is its proximity to venture capital, which provides the rocket fuel for start-ups. A number of venture capital businesses, including Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital and IA Ventures, have offices nearby.

If start-ups look to Flatiron for its small spaces, larger tech companies are choosing Chelsea for its sprawling floors. IAC, for example, opened its Frank Gehry-designed world headquarters at 555 West 18th Street in 2007. And Google moved to the hulking 111 Eighth Avenue in 2006 partly so all employees could be on the same floor, which was 200,000 square feet — or about five acres. In December, the company bought the entire building, 2.9 million square feet.

“There’s a psychological barrier to going to a different floor to talk to somebody,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “Having 800 people on a single floor means we’re much more productive and much more creative as a result.”

Google also has leased space in nearby Chelsea Market, which spans 9th and 10th Avenues between 15th and 16th Streets. Of that building’s 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, 780,000 square feet is leased to technology and media companies like Scripps Networks (which owns the Food Network) and Yext, an Internet marketing company, said Michael Phillips, a managing director of Jamestown Properties, which owns the building.

“I don’t think Midtown has inventory that’s interesting the way this is interesting,” Mr. Phillips said. “And I think the public amenities are almost incomparable,” he added, referring to Hudson River Park, the High Line, Chelsea Piers and the concourse of Chelsea Market.

Many companies have chosen Silicon Alley to be close to similar companies, which might be their clients, their suppliers, their competitors or a source of new hires. Mr. Dunn of Bonobos, for example, hired his vice president of merchandising from J. Crew, which is at 770 Broadway at East Ninth Street, and his vice president of marketing from the Gilt Groupe, at 2 Park Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets, both nearby.

For Google, on the other hand, the proximity has not been that important.

“From a recruiting point of view, a lot of those connections get made virtually,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “They know where to find us online.”

 

Square Feet: Manhattan’s Tech Start-Ups Settle in the Flatiron District and Chelsea

 

“When people talk about Silicon Alley, it’s always been just a concept,” said Michael Kirven, the principal of Bluewolf Inc., a technical consulting company that has moved three times within the Flatiron district in the last decade. “Within five years, you’re going to have a true Silicon Alley. Every company that’s a tech start-up will be here.”

The older, small office buildings in the Flatiron district have attracted start-ups, while large companies like Google and IAC/InterActiveCorp have found homes in Chelsea.

It is no accident, for example, that General Assembly, a new educational institute, meeting place and co-working environment devoted to technology entrepreneurs, was established at 902 Broadway, at East 20th Street, in the middle of the Flatiron district.

“There were a lot of young companies, a lot of designers and artists, and a lot of venture capitalists working in that neighborhood,” said Adam Pritzker, a co-founder of General Assembly. “There were a lot of these pieces that we wanted to put together.”

Craig Nevill-Manning, the engineering director at Google who is largely responsible for the company’s New York presence, said, “New York has not traditionally been known as a center of technological innovation, but it is true now.” He added, “There’s a pretty exciting start-up scene now that there wasn’t in 2003, when I arrived.”

Much of what attracts those start-ups is the loftlike space that the Flatiron district offers, in relatively small footprints. Adams & Company, a property management and leasing company that has almost two million square feet in the Flatiron district under management, oversees spaces as small as 1,500 square feet.

“You have a lot of buildings with high ceilings and natural light, overlooking Madison Square Park,” said James Buslik, principal of Adams & Company, who leased space recently to several tech companies, including Mashable, Demand Media, Tremor Media and Bluewolf. “Creative people find creative space.”

After an exhaustive search through much of Manhattan, David Mojica, the facilities director of Demand Media, said he was drawn to the exposed ventilation system and ceilings at 121 East 24th Street.

“It definitely has that upbeat technology vibe when you walk in,” Mr. Mojica said. “As soon as we saw it, we fell in love with it.”

Bluewolf has been in the neighborhood a bit longer, nearly a decade. The company recently signed a 12-year lease for 12,000 square feet at 11 East 26th Street, the same building that houses Yelp, the online city guide based in San Francisco. Bluewolf chose the building for its central location, the character of the space and its proximity to many of the company’s customers, Mr. Kirven of Bluewolf said. The private roof deck did not hurt, either.

“You get the amenities of a Midtown building but the flexibility of a loft in Brooklyn,” Mr. Kirven said. “Obviously without the Midtown rents, either.”

Prices are substantially lower than in Midtown and other prime office neighborhoods. Along Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues, rents can range from $50 to $75 per square foot, said Grant Greenspan, a principal of the Kaufman Organization. On the side streets, prices can fall to $26 or $27.

The Kaufman Organization has been getting more involved with the Flatiron district. In December the company bought 100-104 Fifth Avenue, a building with 275,000 square feet of space. Apple snapped up a short-term lease of 10,000 square feet on the sixth floor for its mobile advertising network, iAd.

The Kaufman Organization has also helped Paperless Post, Break Media and Zemoga find space in the neighborhood.

“You’ve got everyone from someone who’s selling a phone app to online retail,” Mr. Greenspan said. “Anything in terms of taking advantage of the Internet.”

Another appealing characteristic of the Flatiron district is that the landlords seem to be flexible about the lengths of leases. A short lease is a major advantage for start-ups, because they often grow at an exponential rate, or disappear, in the blink of an eye.

Bonobos, an online men’s apparel store, is only three and a half years old and has already outgrown two offices (three if the apartment of the founder and chief executive, Andy Dunn, is included). After looking at 70 possibilities throughout downtown Manhattan, the company signed a three-year lease at 45 West 25th Street, about 10,000 square feet of space.

“A lot of landlords are looking at 10-year leases,” Mr. Dunn said. “As a start-up, there’s no way to do that. Even a three-year lease was a scary thought.”

One more perk of the Flatiron district is its proximity to venture capital, which provides the rocket fuel for start-ups. A number of venture capital businesses, including Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital and IA Ventures, have offices nearby.

If start-ups look to Flatiron for its small spaces, larger tech companies are choosing Chelsea for its sprawling floors. IAC, for example, opened its Frank Gehry-designed world headquarters at 555 West 18th Street in 2007. And Google moved to the hulking 111 Eighth Avenue in 2006 partly so all employees could be on the same floor, which was 200,000 square feet — or about five acres. In December, the company bought the entire building, 2.9 million square feet.

“There’s a psychological barrier to going to a different floor to talk to somebody,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “Having 800 people on a single floor means we’re much more productive and much more creative as a result.”

Google also has leased space in nearby Chelsea Market, which spans 9th and 10th Avenues between 15th and 16th Streets. Of that building’s 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, 780,000 square feet is leased to technology and media companies like Scripps Networks (which owns the Food Network) and Yext, an Internet marketing company, said Michael Phillips, a managing director of Jamestown Properties, which owns the building.

“I don’t think Midtown has inventory that’s interesting the way this is interesting,” Mr. Phillips said. “And I think the public amenities are almost incomparable,” he added, referring to Hudson River Park, the High Line, Chelsea Piers and the concourse of Chelsea Market.

Many companies have chosen Silicon Alley to be close to similar companies, which might be their clients, their suppliers, their competitors or a source of new hires. Mr. Dunn of Bonobos, for example, hired his vice president of merchandising from J. Crew, which is at 770 Broadway at East Ninth Street, and his vice president of marketing from the Gilt Groupe, at 2 Park Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets, both nearby.

For Google, on the other hand, the proximity has not been that important.

“From a recruiting point of view, a lot of those connections get made virtually,” Mr. Nevill-Manning said. “They know where to find us online.”