We’re Looking at You, Brooklyn: Outer Borough Vacancy Rate Slides to 15.6%

The vacancy rate decline was most pronounced in Brooklyn (Kings County), though it also fell in the Bronx and Staten Island, while rising minimally in Queens. Of the four outer boroughs, Brooklyn has the largest inventory at 8.8 million square feet, but it also has the largest vacancy rate by far, at 24.1 percent for the second quarter (though that is down from 26.6 percent in the first quarter).

Most of the available space is located in just three buildings in Downtown Brooklyn, and it has all been on the market for quite some time: 4 Metrotech Center has just over 700,000 square feet on the market on a direct basis, which has been available for anywhere from 20 to 71 months; 1 Pierrepont Plaza has 315,000 square feet on the market on a direct basis, which has been available for 11 months; and 1 Metrotech Center has 219,000 square feet available on a sublet basis, which has been available for 38 months.

There have, however, been leasing transactions in these buildings recently. Mount Sinai/WESTMED took 75,000 square feet at 1 Pierrepont Plaza, and technology firm MakerBot leased 31,000 square feet at 1 Metrotech Center. And with prices continuing to rise in Manhattan’s tech-popular Midtown South neighborhood, Brooklyn may just appear on the radar of more firms within that industry looking for a less-expensive alternative.

Robert Sammons, Cassidy Turley