DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A stretch of Fulton Street is now the most expensive thoroughfare to rent commercial space in Brooklyn, a new report says.
The average asking rent for ground-floor retail space on Fulton Street, between Boerum Place and Flatbush Avenue, has risen 8 percent over the past year, eclipsing Williamsburg’s heavily trafficked Bedford Avenue, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual Brooklyn Retail Report.
The asking rent for retail space along Fulton Street now averages $326 per square foot, compared to $301 per square foot during the same time last year, the REBNY report said.
Average prices have gone up despite a temporary dip in average asking rents during the summer of 2016, when the average was at $277 per square foot, the report says.
REBNY credited the jump to the opening of new residential projects in the area, including the City Point development, which has brought the Alamo Drafthouse, Target and Century 21 to Downtown Brooklyn.
The board predicts City Point will shift the focal point of the Fulton Mall corridor east toward the new development, which will also bring a soon-to-open food hall and Trader Joe’s to the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, average ground-floor retail rents on Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue, between Grand and North 12th streets, have dropped 18 percent — to $296 per square foot from $361 during the same time last year, the report said.
Bedford Avenue, previously the most expensive stretch for retails tenants, saw the largest decrease out of the 15 commercial districts analyzed by REBNY.
Greenpoint’s Franklin Street, between Meserole Avenue and Commercial Street, saw the largest increase in average asking rents — 41 percent — for ground-floor retail over the last year, according to REBNY. Average asking prices there increased from $63 per square foot to $89 per square foot over the past year.
Park Slope’s Seventh Avenue, between Union and Ninth streets, also saw a large increase this year, with average asking prices jumping 35 percent — from $96 per square foot to $129 per square foot.
To read the full report, click here.
