"I'm actually surprised by how many people come to us with alack of awareness" about the benefits they may be entitled to, saysZuckerbrot, president of Long Island City-based Sholom &Zuckerbrot Realty. "Companies come out here from Manhattan to lookat a property, and no one has educated them about the differentprocesses they can go through and different programs that areavailable."

In the outer boroughs, those programs include tax credits forrelocating to those areas, reductions in energy costs and exemptionfrom real estate taxes on increases in assessed value of eligiblecommercial buildings. Similar programs are available in designatedareas of Manhattan, including Downtown and north of 96thStreet.

For tenants that are relocating or expanding, Zuckerbrot says,"Some programs have a 'con' aspect along with the 'pro'factor—there are tradeoffs. But at least tenants should go throughthe process of understanding it, and by and large, most of theprograms are still net beneficial. The cons might includepaperwork, some upfront costs, lawyers, things like that. But inthe final analysis, some of these incentives are particularlylucrative, especially if you have a sizable employee count. Many ofthem are tied in to your employees—for example, savings off yourtax returns based on your employees."