ESRT Plans Even More Williamsburg Deals After Busy Q3

Empire State Realty Trust is looking to buy even more retail buildings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, next year after already acquiring $195 million worth of properties in the neighborhood.

So far, the real estate investment trust has closed on $143 million of the $195 million acquisition of prime retail spaces along North Sixth Street in Williamsburg, where tenants such as Google, Warby Parker, The North Face and Nike have set up shop, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

The assets comprise approximately 81,000 square feet of retail space on the popular street, and the balance of the purchases is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings report released Monday.

Now, ESRT will acquire another retail asset along North Sixth Street next year for approximately $30 million, the report said. The company said more details will be announced upon the deal’s closing in mid-2025.

“We will be very opportunistic in terms of opportunities that come about from this point on,” ESRT President Christina Chiu said during an earnings call Tuesday. “We have a lot to work with and we feel very good about this very prime retail portfolio, especially in a market where there hasn’t been a ton available in the marketplace.”

The Williamsburg deals capped a busy third quarter for ESRT in which the REIT boasted positive numbers for leasing and occupancy.

ESRT reported its overall commercial portfolio was 93 percent leased and 88.8 percent occupied during the third quarter of 2024 — both slight increases from the prior quarter. The company saw 304,210 square feet of new, renewed or expanded leases during the third quarter as well.

However, the company also had a total outstanding debt of approximately $2.3 billion as of the end of the third quarter, according to the report.

As for its Manhattan office portfolio, ESRT’s leased rate increased by 170 basis points year-over-year to 93.6 percent, while occupancy increased by 140 basis points, to 89.2 percent, in that same time, according to the report.

Significant office leases completed by ESRT during the third quarter include an 11-year, 26,782-square-foot expansion with law firm Hecker Fink at the Empire State Building, ESRT’s signature property. ESRT also inked an 11-year, 24,503-square-foot new lease with advertising company DynAdmic at 1350 Broadway.

“I think that we’re seeing tenants recognize that there are fewer choices of quality properties and quality spaces with quality landlords,” Thomas Durels, ESRT’s executive vice president, said during the earnings call. “That’s why we’re seeing positive results.”

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