20-Jay-Street-0508.jpg
This is the first in an irregular series of columns by an anonymous member of the commercial real estate world. Enjoy.

Dumbo continues to lead the Brooklyn market in leasing activity by providing space in the $18-$33 per rentable square foot range, with most around $24 to $28, the Brooklyn office market’s sweet spot. Downtown Brooklyn space at that price is now rare. When you can get a renovated 3,500 square foot corner on a high floor at 20 Jay Street (above) for $25 per with a sunny west view of the Manhattan Bridge two blocks away, with the Brooklyn Bridge visible behind it, why go anywhere else? No wonder Two Trees leased the two money-view corners of the 8th floor first.

Meanwhile, Downtown retail rents continue to break records. The first two blocks of Court have the highest foot traffic in the borough, so Chase paid $260 per foot to renew its ATM box at 16 Court Street. Jamba Juice was about to pay $240 for much the same size at 32 Court until bailing at the last minute (lease out, electric work done by landlord). Word is that Jamba’s still in the market for Downtown space—hopefully the next deal will be smooth like their tasty products. With the new bank branch around corner at 188 Montague is paying $130, it’s no surprise that landlords want these kinds of reliable, deep-pocket credit tenants.

While not everyone’s happy about Brooklyn’s corporate real estate direction, there is a real business-supportive value to new tenants such as Morton’s 14,500-square-foot steakhouse installation on Adams Street in the Marriott Hotel extension property. Aside from the dozens of jobs they bring to our locale, Downtown needs corporate dining to support existing professional jobs and business here, as well as help bring more. The lack of a serious steak house has been a Brooklyn dining gap, now being filled on Adams Street. A contractor has been selected and tenant is working to open in September. What’s the hurry? Well, Weil Gotshal, one the largest law firms in the world, just took back office & data center space at 15 MetroTech. Paying only the upper twenties per foot to sublet (bargain given recent construction), the visiting partners need somewhere Manhattan-like to eat lunch, dontcha you think?

Finally, the Downtown landlord that has done the least to maintain its prewar office buildings is finally waking up. After selling 16 Court Street (36 stories, 317,000 rentable square feet) to SLGreen – the largest prewar office renovator on the planet – JP Day Realty is gut-rehabbing its own 186 Joralemon Street property (12 stories, 80,000 rentable square feet) and selectively leasing space well below their official $40 asking rents I hear.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. The What returns.

    Not.

    You Chuckies let yourselves be frauded. Did you not notice the obvious lack of negritude in this What’s post? Now even though I believe The True What is most likely a white boy doing a blackface riff, he does it with humor and a real bite, so I dig it. That bite was missing from the above post. Close, but no oreo.

    Where is The What?