The couple lived and worked in a former munitions factory in Corktown, a Toronto neighborhood adjacent to the historic Distillery District, which consists of several blocks of Victorian industrial buildings. They had 6,000 square feet. Over time, Mr. Iwaskiw, a furniture designer, renovated much of the interior.

This winter, he had a chance to work in New York just as Ms. Lehman was to open a New York office for Happen, the marketing and design firm she works for.

So they decided that all three of them — the third is their dog, Hanna — would drive to Brooklyn, which seemed more livable and affordable than Manhattan, “and hang out there for a week to see how we felt about the area and if it was really right for us,” Ms. Lehman said.

They stayed at the trendy Hotel Williamsburg (now under new ownership and called King and Grove), took Hanna with them for drinks at the canine-friendly Lucky Dog bar, and drove all around the borough. They had a great time, and soon returned to hunt for a live-work space to rent.

Williamsburg, however, struck them as not quite right. “It’s not finished yet, it’s too early on the growth curve for us,” said Ms. Lehman, who is 44. Park Slope, which they had heard a lot about, appeared to be too family-oriented. “We drove through Park Slope and knew within 30 seconds it wasn’t for us,” Ms. Lehman said. “Every car was double parked and I thought: chaos. We don’t have kids.” But it seemed as if everyone else did.

Besides, said Mr. Iwaskiw, 52, Park Slope had “streets and streets of residential, and we wanted something more industrial-commercial.”

They contacted Paul LeMarc Brown, a senior vice president of the Corcoran Group, who was referred by a friend. “They were thinking of trying on a more traditional brownstone or town-house space,” he said.

The couple at first assumed that $4,000 to $5,000 a month would be a reasonable rental price, but soon made it $6,000 to $7,000.

A four-bedroom triplex in Brooklyn Heights, listed for $7,000, was in a narrow but lovely brownstone building. It had a wood-burning fireplace, an outdoor deck and built-in bookshelves that caught the attention of Mr. Iwaskiw, a book collector.

But they thought the rent was higher than it should be. Besides, their timing was off — they weren’t ready to move quite so soon.

They checked out a sunny three-bedroom duplex with two outdoor terraces at the Fort Greene-Clinton Hill boundary. The nine-unit building had been built as a condominium but was being rented out, Mr. Brown said. The rent was $6,000 a month.

The second story was suitable for an office, so the interior space worked well, but the couple didn’t like the building’s modern feel and small lobby. The unit looked out on the parking garage across the street. And the location seemed out of the way for visiting clients.

They loved another four-bedroom place in a Fort Greene brownstone. It was also $7,000 a month, with a beautifully renovated interior and, again, plenty of bookshelves. But it occupied the upper half of the building, and the elderly Hanna can no longer easily negotiate stairs.

“They were proactive and took it upon themselves to explore the neighborhoods they heard the most about,” Mr. Brown said. The one they kept returning to was Dumbo. Whenever they drove around there, Ms. Lehman thought, “I love it here.” They were drawn to “the strong artists’ community, where you can feel the energy,” she said. “It’s a little bit gritty, which we like, with a lot of loft, warehouse-y type spaces.” In many ways, it resembled the Distillery District. “It felt like home to us,” she said.

In Dumbo, they had noticed 220 Water Street, a new rental building that had started life in 1905 as the Hanan & Son shoe factory. “The beautiful windows caught Terry’s attention,” Ms. Lehman said, “and we wanted to see inside.” Once in, they were impressed. The soaring stone and brick lobby, topped by a skylight, was “almost the size of a basketball court,” Mr. Iwaskiw said.

The building offered quite a few layouts, but only a few were big enough to work for them. Most of the spaces were studios and one-bedrooms.

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