ABS Partners Real Estate Opens First Brooklyn Office
By Liam La Guerre September 3, 2015 10:04 am
reprints
ABS Partners Real Estate is branching out to Bushwick.
The commercial real estate firm opened its first Brooklyn office in a 1,500-square-foot space in Bushwack Capital’s 99 Scott Avenue on Monday, Commercial Observer has learned.
ABS signed a lease without a set expiration date because it wanted flexibility in the lease, ABS’ Brooklyn office head Ben Waller told CO. Asking rent in the deal for the second-story space in the two-story building was $40 per square foot, he said.
The Bushwick location between Meserole and Randolph Streets has three employees, including Mr. Waller. In addition to doing Brooklyn office and retail leasing, the brokers in the new office will handle the Queens market.
ABS has been handling Brooklyn and Queens deals from its Manhattan office at 200 Park Avenue South between 17th and 18th Streets, but chose to open a Bushwick location because of an increase in activity in the neighborhood and the Brooklyn market in general.
“So the obvious reason is because we are very active in this market,” said Mr. Waller, who handled the lease negotiations for ABS and the landlord. “The reason why is because we really see this neighborhood as the next commercial area where people work and play as opposed to what everyone is saying, which is ‘Bushwick is the next Williamsburg.’ I used to live in Williamsburg, and we used to work there, there is no space in Williamsburg. When larger tenants in Manhattan are looking for space, we bring them to Bushwick.”
ABS, which was founded in 1999, now has four offices with the addition of the Bushwick location. It has other offices in Harrison, N.Y. and Bridgeport, Conn. The 200 Park Avenue South location is the firm’s headquarters.
The 22,000-square-foot building at 99 Scott Avenue is currently under renovation. Bushwack Capital is hoping to sign leases with an event hosting company, a beer hall, a winery and a restaurant to fill the property. The company expects to the other tenants will be able to move into the building in mid-2016.
CityFunders, which provided Bushwack Capital with a $6.8 million loan to buy and develop the property, is offering the public the chance to invest in the project through CityFunders’ real estate crowdfunding platform with a minimum of $5,000, as CO previously reported. Investors are guaranteed a 10 percent annual return.
