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As Brooklyn becomes the hottest place to live, it’s also becoming a desirable place to work, according to two reports. As developers refurbish old industrial space to make way for 21st century companies, there is still 20 million square feet of property available for conversion, said Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Tucker Reed in a story in Bloomberg. Above,  NYU Polytechnic City Tech’s Klitgord building under construction at Jay and Tillary streets.

The owner of the 100,000-square-foot 19th century warehouse at 1 Carlton Avenue across from the Navy Yard is exploring development options, including a “miniature version of Boston’s Quincy Market,” said Bloomberg.

Developers are beginning to see Brooklyn as an alternative office locale for New York’s technology and media firms, many of whose employees already live in the area. The industrial buildings evoke a feel similar to Manhattan’s midtown south, where demand has driven rents out of reach for some tenants in those fields, while the borough is experiencing a broader renaissance as retail districts flourish and home prices surge.

Brooklyn office inventory dropped to 7.8 percent in June, down from 13.4 percent 15 months earlier, according to real estate firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Average square foot prices were $32.13, up from $19.04 from a decade earlier. In Manhattan, in midtown south, average rents are $47.49 a square foot.

Downtown Brooklyn is the next hottest area for commercial real estate, according to a survey of more than 100 people in the business conducted by accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron, The New York Observer reported. Rents are likely to soar there, vs. other areas such as Hudson Yards, Hell’s Kitchen and the Garment District. “This could be another ‘prestige’ breakthrough for Brooklyn,” said William Jennings, partner-in-charge of Marks Paneth & Shron, in a prepared statement. “Many people already think it’s much cooler to live in Brooklyn than Manhattan. It may soon be the hot place to office.”

The tech boom across the river is also fueling Brooklyn’s residential boom. The buyers of all those $1 million plus properties in Bed Stuy? Google employees, according to Bloomberg.

Brooklyn Offices Catch Media-Tech Boom as Vacancies Drop [Bloomberg]
Downtown Brooklyn Is the Next Midtown South, Says Survey [NY Observer]


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