Tough Slog for Downtown Brooklyn Office Market
The new residential projects in Downtown Brooklyn may be chugging along despite broader setbacks in the local and national economies, but the state of the area’s commercial real estate is having a tougher time of it. According to an article in Crain’s, there were only three new office leases last year in excess of 30,000…
The new residential projects in Downtown Brooklyn may be chugging along despite broader setbacks in the local and national economies, but the state of the area’s commercial real estate is having a tougher time of it. According to an article in Crain’s, there were only three new office leases last year in excess of 30,000 square feet: One at 470 Vanderbilt, one at MetroTech and one at 1 Pierrepont Plaza. The market is a mixed picture, with a vacancy rate that is lower than almost any major office market in America, but it’s a very slow-moving market,” said Chris Havens, chief executive of Brooklyn-based brokerage Creative Real Estate Group. Crain’s argues that Downtown Brooklyn has suffered from a double-whammy: A recession that has seen companies of all stripes cutting back on their need for space coupled with declining office rents in prime areas of Manhattan. It’s hard to see who would have an appetite for large chunks of office space in downtown Brooklyn, says Marisa Manley, president of Commercial Tenant Real Estate Representation. The slow pace of new leases may not be the real problem, though; instead, the big question is whether the large existing tenants, many of them back-office operations of large Manhattan-based firms, will renew.
Downtown Brooklyn Losing Its Big Edge [Crain’s]
I know that a lot of office space was lost 9 years ago but can anyone tell me if the space that was built over the last years replaced that loss, if they build more, if they build less…?
How much is in the so-called “pipeline” to be finished in the next year?
Also, with all the building going on the last 5 or so years, I’ve been very much overwhelmed at the changing cityscape, but has the bulk of the new building been residential?
Thanks!
Class A modern space has problems, yes. But the rest of the market is doing nicely. Crains story from large user point of view.
BK is a small tenant market. DUMBO space (under 2000)leasing at a pace like the good old days. Downtown BK has few spaces available under 2k, and with exception of one landlord, very few at all available.
Rents stopped dropping almost a year ago for B and C space.
Retail has come back, and more resi supports more small office tenants.
Like everywhere else. But some how we have a “recovery”.
***Bid half off peak comps***