It’s an exciting time for Brooklyn.
Yesterday, several of Cushman & Wakefield’s Brooklyn agents gathered with Entrepreneurs’ Organization for a panel discussion on the Brooklyn market. Moderated by EO’s Bert Rosenblatt, the panelists included experts Brendan Maddigan, Alex Svetlakou, Aaron Warkov, Winfield Clifford, Michael Amirkhanian, Michael Mazzara, and Nicole Liebman. Each agent covers a different territory in Brooklyn, making for an in-depth and substantive conversation.
The Brooklyn market remains strong as lower land prices continue to attract investors away from Manhattan and tenants come in to satisfy the growing demand for product and service-based retailers.
“Retail has been extremely strong in Brooklyn over the past two quarters. With major leases such as Whole Foods, Apple, IMAX, Kit and Ace, Trader Joes, and so on, the borough is seeing a large push of national and well-established operators,” said Nicole Liebman.
It comes to no surprise that more businesses are setting up shop. With the increase of mixed-use and residential units, approximately 15,000 coming to market within the next two years, there is a tremendous need for retail development.
Agents noted that overlooked neighborhoods like Coney Island are also on the rise.
“In addition to significant development plans filed, Coney Island has experienced a notable increase in activity near the Luna Park and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue stops within the last year,” said Alex Svetlakou.
Amidst the changing landscape, the borough’s longstanding identity as an arts and culture capital prevails in Williamsburg, and surprisingly, Downtown Brooklyn.
“I think everyone knows about Brooklyn Bridge Park, Barclay’s Center, all of the new construction going on in Downtown Brooklyn – but I think something that gets over looked is Downtown Brooklyn’s art and culture presence. BAM is America’s oldest performing arts center and has been around for over 150 years with world renowned programming in theater, dance, music, opera, and film,” said Michael Mazzara.
Neighborhoods: Williamsburg, Coney Island, Downtown Brooklyn/ Agents: Brendan Maddigan, Michael Mazzara, Winfield Clifford