Empire State Realty Trust Buys Williamsburg Retail at 134 North Sixth Street

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Empire State Realty Trust is continuing to set up camp in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The real estate investment trust has purchased the one-story retail building at 134 North Sixth Street from L3 Capital for $28.3 million, according to city records made public Tuesday.

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ESRT bought the property between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue through the entity ESRT 130-136 North Sixth Street, while L3 Capital completed the deal through the entity RS JZ Bedford North Sixth, records show. Thomas Durels, executive vice president of real estate at Empire, signed for the buyer, and L3 Capital Principal Domenic Lanni signed for the seller.

Spokespeople for ESRT and L3 Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It’s unclear who brokered the deal.

The current tenant at the 6,232-square-foot Williamsburg building is Google (GOOGL), which leased the space in April 2022 for its second retail store following its first store at 76 Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, as Commercial Observer previously reported. The site had been previously rented by North Face for a pop-up concept store and was a restaurant before that.

Williamsburg has become an attractive landing pad for national retailers as it has shifted from a gritty artist outpost. Google is neighbors with other tenants in the neighborhood such as Lululemon, Madewell, Warby Parker, Buck Mason, Nike and Patagonia.

ESRT announced in July that it was set to spend a total of $195 million on two retail portfolios near North Sixth Street, but did not announce the addresses or sellers, The Real Deal reported. A source familiar with the matter confirmed the 134 North Sixth Street sale is part of that deal.

Those deals would be in addition to ESRT’s other current retail holdings in the neighborhood, including 77 North Sixth Street and 157-159 Wythe Avenue, where anchor tenants including Glossier, Glowbar and Sugarfish are located, TRD reported.

Another landlord making moves in Williamsburg is Two Trees Management, which recently redeveloped a former sugar factory into the The Refinery at Domino and has secured major tenants there such as gym chain Equinox and recreational weed dispensary Gotham.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.