“Not Everybody Is A Williamsburg Person:” Could Brooklyn’s Next Real Estate Boom Be In Brighton Beach?
In the current real estate climate, every new day seems to bring with it a fresh opportunity to speculate about the future of a given Brooklyn neighborhood; Bed-Stuy is supposedly “the new Williamsburg,” East New York is the “New Bushwick,” Crown Heights is newly ultra-expensive. Today, via the Commercial Observer’s entire dedicated “Brooklyn Issue,” we’re getting some new intel on a real estate boom going on in South Brooklyn, and more specifically, down in Brighton Beach.
Some data for you:
The number of development site and investment sales in Brighton Beach doubled to 12 between 2009 and 2013; in Gravesend, the number jumped from 16 to 25; and in Sheepshead Bay, the number soared from eight to a staggering 43, according to data from Massey Knakal.
Earlier this month, Mr. Svetlakou and the firm’s chairman, Bob Knakal, arranged the sale of a portfolio of eight buildings within a 3-mile stretch of those three neighborhoods for $78 million, showing that developers are willing to shell out big money for land that is very limited and in high demand. The portfolio pulled in $173,000 per unit.
The article also notes that “South Brooklyn neighborhoods like Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend established themselves as valuable real estate strongholds years ago” and details Muss Development’s massive luxury development in Brighton Beach, the Oceana Condominium and Club (and high demand in similar neighborhood developments). Once it’s finished, the Oceana is set to include 927 units, a 15,000-foot “medical or community center,” 8,500 square feet dedicated to retail, and units that go for $650 to $750 per square foot.
The company’s owner Jason Muss told the paper, “South Brooklyn is becoming a real magnet for young families and people who don’t want to leave New York City. Not everybody is a Williamsburg person, and many people simply don’t want to live in Manhattan for whatever reason. But those same people are not necessarily eager to go to the suburbs.”
Post-Sandy damage was a significant setback, but per the Observer, “The positive seems to outweigh the negative, but perhaps the greatest barrier for entry into South Brooklyn for developers is simply a lack of land.” Worth taking with a grain of salt since most of this hype is coming from the people trying to sell units down there, but striking nonetheless. We can only assume this is based almost entirely on proximity to Cafe Kashkar.4D Ultrasound
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.