The history of SoHo explains why, the squatter artists who set up those lofts and poured thousands of dollars into them to create kitchens and bathrooms and have running water in raw industrial spaces eventually got to keep, live and own those spaces. It was basically the original wave of gentrification that all waves have taken up after- it’s always the gays and the artists who come establish a neighborhood that is run down and ruined and then they get priced out of it.
The laws have completely changed since then. If he pours, what in this day and age is tens of thousands of dollars into that rented loft he’s not going to eventually own it or can he take those improvements with him. If he renting he won’t even be able to write it off as home improvement for taxes. So I’m questioning why he would spend so much money on it, if he has that much money use it for a down payment and get a mortgage that is equal or sometimes less then rent and you own and can sell.
