Hillary Clinton Might Not Be Able To Afford Brooklyn Campaign Headquarters
The 2016 presidential campaign is just warming up, but Hillary Clinton is reportedly already on the hunt for potential campaign headquarters. Multiple sources indicated that Clinton is hoping to set up operations in the city, and has been eyeing spots in Brooklyn (or maybe Queens) for her future support staffers to work in. But it looks like, even for a well-established candidate with quite a war chest, Brooklyn real estate might be too expensive.
This is all, of course, unconfirmed by the Clinton folks themselves. After all, Clinton hasn’t even officially announced that she’s running, though the smart money is that she certainly is. But Capital New York has a report on how the Brooklyn real estate crunch could be limiting Clinton’s options here in Kings County. Clinton’s team has supposedly been checking out properties with brokers, looking at MetroTech (yes! Hillary! That would make us neighbors!) and One Pierrepont Plaza. MetroTech is particularly appealing because it’s owned by Forest City Ratner, and Bruce Ratner is a huge donor to Democrats.
But here’s the wrench in things: The Clinton team, according to the Daily News, is looking for 100,000 square feet of office space, which just isn’t that easy to come by in Brooklyn. (And to be fair, it’s worth taking that report with a grain of salt: Obama’s 2012 headquarters occupied only half that space.) But if the 100,000 square foot figure holds, that limits Clinton’s Brooklyn options pretty drastically. Plus, in Downtown Brooklyn, office space can run around $40/square foot, so, woof. Expensive. DUMBO isn’t much better, at $50/square foot.
Capital New York has a couple suggestions, including Long Island City and Sunset Park, where they might be able to set up shop in Industry City. But, eesh, office space like that might require being located in Manhattan. Let’s hope not. We want to be able to see Hillary strolling down the street with an Ample Hills cone sometime soon.