NYC residents have been flocking to Brooklyn in droves for the past decade, and developers feel it's time to join the movement. Roughly 16M SF of office space is in the pipeline, stretching from Williamsburg to downtown Sunset Park.
Critics worry a dearth of amenities and public transportation will hurt the development. But supporters believe the borough has the most important feature: people.
So office developers are taking the plunge, the New York Times reports; developers like Manhattan-focused Quinlan Development Group, which purchased the 261k SF Pioneer Warehouse at 41 Flatbush Ave in Fort Greene for $90M last spring. 41 Flatbush is getting a $30M makeover to attract tech companies that prefer the industrial look.
When it opens in mid-2016, the Pioneer Warehouse will be a top-tier, Class-A building with doormen, a bike room, and up to four street-level stores. It may also get a landscaped roof deck. Its $55/SF annual rents are a bargain compared to Manhattan prices, and while they might seem steep for Brooklyn, benefits like REAP offer game changing tax cuts. [NYT]
