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Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill Retail Rents Doubled in Last Decade: Report

By Alexandra Leon | January 27, 2017 4:09pm | Updated on January 30, 2017 8:55am
 Fulton Mall, between Adams Street and Flatbush Avenue, is the most expensive spot to lease commercial space at $250 to $299 per square foot.
Fulton Mall, between Adams Street and Flatbush Avenue, is the most expensive spot to lease commercial space at $250 to $299 per square foot.
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Flickr/Steven Pisano

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Commercial rents in Downtown Brooklyn have jumped as high as 144 percent over the past decade amid similar increases on nearby commercial strips, a new real estate report shows. 

The average asking price to lease a retail space on Court Street between Montague Street and Atlantic Avenue currently stands between $200 and $249 per square foot, according to the 2017 Brooklyn Retail Report from real estate firm CPEX

That’s a 144 percent increase from 2007, when it cost between $85 and $99 per square foot to lease commercial space along the same corridor. 

The strip is currently home to such brand-name tenants as Sephora, Neiman Marcus and SoulCycle.

The average asking price to lease a retail space in Downtown Brooklyn and Cobble Hill came in at more than $100 per square foot, the report said.

That’s a considerable spike from just 10 years ago, when asking prices started at $55 per square foot in Downtown Brooklyn and went as low as $35 per square foot in Cobble Hill.

The section that saw the most growth in the area was Court Street between Atlantic Avenue and Bergen Street in Cobble Hill. It currently costs between $150 and $199 per square foot to lease commercial space there, as opposed to $35 to $54 per square foot in 2007 —  a 236 percent increase, the report shows.

Fulton Mall between Adams Street and Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn remains the most expensive spot to lease commercial space at $250 to $299 per square foot. That represents a 57 percent increase from $150 to $199 per square foot in 2007, according to the report.

Other retail corridors like Flatbush Avenue and Willoughby Street in Downtown Brooklyn, and Smith Street in Boerum Hill saw similar growth, with rent prices higher than $100 per square foot.

One retail area has not see any growth since 2007 was Montague Street between Court and Hicks streets in Brooklyn Heights. Leasing prices there remain at $100 to $149 per square foot.

CPEX predicts the next big shopping and dining destination will be the intersection of Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene, citing the arrival of a new Whole Foods and a rumored Apple Store, as well as 3,800 new rental units and 900 hotel rooms.  

Currently, the average price to lease commercial space on Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue is between $65 to $80 per square foot, according to Ryan Condren, managing director of the Brooklyn Retail Leasing Team at CPEX.

Condren said he expects the area to see a similar growth pattern to Bedford Avenue between North Eighth and North Third streets in Williamsburg — which saw a 477 percent jump in leasing prices over the decade — in just half the time. 

“Fulton and Lafayette is ahead of where Bedford was 10 years ago in terms of development,” he said. “I could see it being in the next five years or so."