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Williamsburg and Greenpoint Top City For New Apartments, Study Finds

By Gwynne Hogan | May 10, 2016 4:38pm
 Real estate firm CityRealty used renderings of anticipated developments to create a new vision of the Williamsburg and Greenpoint skyline.
Real estate firm CityRealty used renderings of anticipated developments to create a new vision of the Williamsburg and Greenpoint skyline.
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CityRealty

WILLIAMSBURG — New construction and gentrification go hand in hand, according to a study that found North Brooklyn had both the most new apartment construction and was the most "gentrifying" area in the city.

More apartments were built in Williamsburg and Greenpoint and more are in the pipeline for construction than in any other part of the city, according to a study released Monday that tracked "gentrifying" neighborhoods by a range of barometers.

In 2015, the Department of Buildings issued 1,235 certificates of occupancy for new apartments and 6,498 apartments are in the pipeline for construction based on approved residential building permits in 2015, according to an analysis released Monday by NYU's Furman Center.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Astoria, Woodside, Sunnyside, Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea followed as the most frenzied areas for construction in the city.

The North Brooklyn growth accounts for 9.5 percent of all new units built in the city and 12 percent of apartments in the pipeline for construction, and about 30 percent of new construction in Brooklyn.

Whether it's brunch lines, the claustrophobic L train, snarled traffic or sparse green space, North Brooklyn residents won't be surprised by the findings. The development boom was partially enabled by controversial 2005 rezoning which allowed massive residential towers to spring up along the waterfront.

But that development boom has dovetailed with findings that ranked Williamsburg and Greenpoint as the city's most "gentrifying" neighborhood based on income, an increase in white residents, a decrease in black residents, surging rent prices and the increase in residents with college degrees among other barometers.

Average rents in Greenpoint and Williamsburg surged by 57.7 percent between 2000 and 2014, a greater increase than anywhere else in the city.

Median household income increased a dramatic 41 percent during that time and the share of residents with college degrees was up 43.7 percent, both topping rates across the city.