He also said pier owners were suffering because they could not rent out second-story space to non-marine-related businesses and could not charge fishermen high rents.

The gallery specializes in painting in its second-story space at 12 West Putnam Avenue, and has recently opened a street-level annex a few doors away.

"We're coming to my favorite item here," Mr. Krupa said, ushering Ms. Schub to a second-story space that was as chilly as a meat locker.

A health club is expected to open in June in a second-story space between Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place that has been vacant for three decades.

And Gucci, which took a second-story space in 900 North Michigan Shops, left an empty storefront behind.

The irregularly shaped second-story space is splashed with color, from the tile-paved kitchen to the modern and primitive art hung on the dun-colored plaster walls.

The restaurant has hovered above the Koreatown fray in a boxy second-story space for more than a decade.

The size and shape of the new second-story space were much less of a problem than easy access to it.

He said the use of large windows and second-story retail space has ample historical precedent in the second phase of the development of the center, during the late 1930's.

It was difficult to picture any warlord setting up a business office, but the second-story space on Strand Road was exactly that.