Williamsburg Real Estate, Thanks to Building Boom, Nips at Soho's Heels

Wealthy buyers are flocking to Williamsburg, lured by new townhouses and shiny high rise apartments on the waterfront, according to an article in the Financial Times. A third of all sales in the area in the last three years went to foreign buyers. And the population has increased 10,245 since 2000, to 125,000.

“Williamsburg is now an established part of New York’s luxury property market,” the article quoted Corcoran agent Christine Blackburn as saying. “International buyers, as well as long-time New York investors, no longer see Manhattan as the only place to purchase upscale property.”

More than 130 new buildings were built or planned over the past two years, which works out to 2,818 new apartments by the end of this year plus 2,766 more in 2014. As the FT put it:

Williamsburg’s transformation from squat industrial buildings and row houses, two decades ago, to affluent enclave is a familiar story in New York City real estate history. Driven from upscale Manhattan neighbourhoods, such as Soho and Tribeca, by soaring rents in the late 1980s, young professionals began migrating across the East River where Williamsburg offered less expensive living spaces. For decades, construction in much of Williamsburg was designated by the city for commercial structures only. But in 2005, with many of the factories long-shuttered or abandoned, city officials redesignated – or rezoned – many areas of the district to allow for residential construction. That sparked a flood of new property development as private money poured in. In 2005 alone there were 130 new developments in the works, according to the New York City Department of Buildings. Over the next five years more than 1,000 building proposals were filed with the city.

The story mentioned several new developments, including the modern-style Williamsburg Social Townhomes on North 3rd and Xinyuan Real Estate’s 200-condo development in south Williamsburg. It said the Carlyle Group plans to build a hotel and apartment building south of that.

The story concludes by saying prices will go up to match Soho and Greenwich Village. “It’s a natural New York progression,” says Ralph Modica, an agent for Douglas Elliman. “Real estate values are now influencing the neighbourhood and wealthy buyers are showing up.”

Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Rivals Manhattan in Luring Wealthy Buyers [FT]
Photo by Graham Coreil-Allen