Commercial Klutch: January Edition

It’s time for the latest installment from our man in the Brooklyn commercial real estate trenches…
MetroTech has momentum the repub field lacks, with a full floor take by Deutsche Bank at Four (Chase on Flatbush), Brooklyn Nets (yeah team) at Fifteen Metro, and a 77,000 rsf piece of the late Bear Stearns space at Numero Uno Metro went to American Transit Insurance cheap. Court Street activity is up, with a 2,000 rsf harbor view space snapped up at 32, a high floor spot at 16 and a 3,000 at 26 gone.

Dumbo nearly ‘sold out’, 20 Jay Street tightest it’s been for over fifty years. Generally, only 2000-6000 sf space avail for retail and office. Rents up all around.

We hear 210 Joralemon Municipal Building retail condo may get H & M instead of Fulton Street, where TJ Maxx is taking part of the landmarked 505 Fulton. Recent Observer piece on Fulton Mall nailed the changes underway, though elided the question, will the shopping population become ‘mixed’ in the wake of the Aeropostaling of the strip? Two answers – we’ll see and – who cares? We shop there.

NFW 370 Jay is worth the 60 mill MTA wants. Even the 20 NYU Poly is offering is high, given state of building and potential rental value. NYU is a great use, though we’d prefer a small tenant office building. Too good a deal for MTA to make, they’ll blow it.

Red Hook, long a soft leasing spot, now has O’Connell properties nearly full, much activity on small buildings, and increased demand across the board. Huge capital improvement program underway on the waterfront, with said landlord spending on their gorgeous brick and timber stock.