For Some Startups, Brooklyn Is the Place to Be

Drawn by the “energy” of Brooklyn, tech startup Livestream is leaving Chelsea and will take over 3rd Ward’s old space at 195 Morgan Avenue, pictured above, in the Bushwick loft area, reported The New York Times.

“It’s really the people and the community and the energy here,” Livestream’s founder told the Times. “There are a lot of entrepreneurs around. Makers, restaurants — there’s a really big community of creators.”

The rent is also a third of what it was in Chelsea. Etsy, Kickstarter and Vice magazine are other Brooklyn stalwarts on the Brooklyn scene who have recently taken new office space.

The Times makes Brooklyn sound like Florence during the Renaissance:

Livestream’s desire for fruitful partnerships with the local creative class is nothing new for Brooklyn. In a borough where Etsy and Kickstarter have both settled for the long run, Internet-based companies have mixed with artists, craftspeople and other creative types — “makers,” in the local parlance — to the advantage of both.

But there’s an unfortunate lack of office space here. “Brooklyn is the third- or second-most populous creative professional county in America,” the Times quoted Aptsandlofts.com commercial real estate broker Chris Havens as saying. But except for during World War II, there’s never been less move-in ready commercial space available. More office conversions and new buildings are set to open, but not for another two or three years.

Do you think we could see the day when most people will work in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan? Could Bushwick become the next Dumbo?

In Search of Space and Creativity, a Start-up Is Headed to Brooklyn [NY Times]
Photo by Scott Bintner