I'll begin with an actual quote from an actual article on The Brooklyn Owl, soon to open on the Upper Flabenue near the Nets Arena (I refuse to say Barclay's anymore - get your damn bank's name on the friggin' subway map for chrisakes, for how much a year? There ought to be a law...). And no, this is not another April Fool's Day joke. The article's dated the 21st.
The Q has obtained documents that confirm the hearsay - retail rents and lease-terms and non-renewals along Flatbush Avenue are undergoing an absolutely dizzying change. Building after building is either denying new leases to tenants, for various given reasons, or applying 50% or more increases in cost. You know, I thought this sort of thing was the case a few years ago, but that was when there was just hint of gentrification in the air. (Now that hint in the air is more akin to the stench of the fancy perfume on the wealthy dowager sitting next to me last night at a schmancy benefit for the LGBT Center where Lana Wachowski, Marc Jacobs AND Hillary Clinton all spoke. Lana's was the most fun speech, all Matrixy and stuff, though Hilary did receive a tearful standing ovation and reminded everyone why she was so ridiculously more qualified to affix the Presidential Seal, and most specifically not to embarrass 2/3 of the nation every goddam day.)
It seemed every few months for the past couple decades there'd be rumblings of wholesale change about the Flabenue, or Rogers or Nostrand or SoFro (South Franklin, forget I said it, just messin' with ya) or Church Avenue and on and on. But we really haven't seen the crazy kind of flippage that happened to NoFro (North Franklin, forget I said that, just messin' with ya). Bizzes have come and gone, sure, but the general make-up of the area has remained roughly the same. Lots of busy hair and nail places, a couple coffee shops and bars, discount stores and bodegas and green grocers, then a toy store here a specialty foods store there, couple new hardware stores and a place to fix your i-Crap. Cell Phoneries. A wine shop. Another wine shop. Another wine shop. Another wine shop. A record store. Sure there are more middle-class or yuppie amenities than there were a few years ago, but the mix has simply diversified in drips and drabs, and that slowish pace has been reassuring to some of us old-farts who don't want our beloved 'hood to change TOO much. We are, after all, old-farts, and that means we like our change to come in bits and bobs, the better to assimilate it into our age-addled brains. (The advent of the internet, for instance. Slowly you go from AltaVista to Yahoo to Google, downloading your first mp3 to streaming to podcasts to unrelenting constant connection to the world wide web, soul-crushing addiction to useless information, browser reloads, pointless games and vapid emails, posts and tweets. It took almost 25 years for my very existence to be usurped into the Wachowski Matrix, my intellect devolved to the desperate act of blogging, a cry for help if ever there was one, trapped behind a Keyboardian Hell of my own making. Help. Help.)
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"It’s not just the normal gift shop with a million different brands," said Annie Bruce. "We’re really trying to give the customers a unicorn experience to make them feel special when they come into the shop." Upon entering the store, shoppers will be greeted with a list of instructions to help guide them through the transformation "from human being to unicorn being," Cory Bruce said. The metamorphosis concludes with a magic mirror that lights up and talks to shoppers, congratulating them on completing the journey.Now that that's out of the way...
The Q has obtained documents that confirm the hearsay - retail rents and lease-terms and non-renewals along Flatbush Avenue are undergoing an absolutely dizzying change. Building after building is either denying new leases to tenants, for various given reasons, or applying 50% or more increases in cost. You know, I thought this sort of thing was the case a few years ago, but that was when there was just hint of gentrification in the air. (Now that hint in the air is more akin to the stench of the fancy perfume on the wealthy dowager sitting next to me last night at a schmancy benefit for the LGBT Center where Lana Wachowski, Marc Jacobs AND Hillary Clinton all spoke. Lana's was the most fun speech, all Matrixy and stuff, though Hilary did receive a tearful standing ovation and reminded everyone why she was so ridiculously more qualified to affix the Presidential Seal, and most specifically not to embarrass 2/3 of the nation every goddam day.)
It seemed every few months for the past couple decades there'd be rumblings of wholesale change about the Flabenue, or Rogers or Nostrand or SoFro (South Franklin, forget I said it, just messin' with ya) or Church Avenue and on and on. But we really haven't seen the crazy kind of flippage that happened to NoFro (North Franklin, forget I said that, just messin' with ya). Bizzes have come and gone, sure, but the general make-up of the area has remained roughly the same. Lots of busy hair and nail places, a couple coffee shops and bars, discount stores and bodegas and green grocers, then a toy store here a specialty foods store there, couple new hardware stores and a place to fix your i-Crap. Cell Phoneries. A wine shop. Another wine shop. Another wine shop. Another wine shop. A record store. Sure there are more middle-class or yuppie amenities than there were a few years ago, but the mix has simply diversified in drips and drabs, and that slowish pace has been reassuring to some of us old-farts who don't want our beloved 'hood to change TOO much. We are, after all, old-farts, and that means we like our change to come in bits and bobs, the better to assimilate it into our age-addled brains. (The advent of the internet, for instance. Slowly you go from AltaVista to Yahoo to Google, downloading your first mp3 to streaming to podcasts to unrelenting constant connection to the world wide web, soul-crushing addiction to useless information, browser reloads, pointless games and vapid emails, posts and tweets. It took almost 25 years for my very existence to be usurped into the Wachowski Matrix, my intellect devolved to the desperate act of blogging, a cry for help if ever there was one, trapped behind a Keyboardian Hell of my own making. Help. Help.)
But the rumble's become a roar. When Nelson's and the Notary/Driving School at Flatbush/Parkside get booted just for being. When the beloved Maverick Comic Book store is up for rent (tis true). When three businesses get warehoused together at the corner of Rutland/Flatbush, awaiting god knows what to put in an offer. When brokers now routinely seek $60/sf and up in annual rent, and will WAIT until they get it, when longtime local bizzes are offered only short-term leases or none at all, when shops that don't fit the right "profile" don't make the cut, you know you're entering the Wacky World of Brooklyn Retail Rents. Storefronts are priced by the square footage - it's up to the business owner to determine what qualifies as the right combination of size, shape, price and location-location-location.
From the most recent REBNY report, comes some startling statistics (below): Use the $60/ sf mark to gauge where WE'RE now at, and you'll see that while we haven't reached Park Slope terrain, we're gaining. We're almost up to prime 5th Ave Park Slope, which took a dive to $80ish. Just 10 years ago you could expect to find a place in our neighborhood for $25/sf and a longterm lease, easy. If you struggle figuring how much the monthly rate is on a joint, I like to think of a typical 800 s/f store at $60 s/f is about $5K a month. The math is simple but daunting. Make that much (net after sales) just to break even. And that's on the LOW end of the spectrum in big bad BK. You'll need to clear $20 to $25 K each month in the toniest nabes. Just feast your eyes on these puppies:
From the most recent REBNY report, comes some startling statistics (below): Use the $60/ sf mark to gauge where WE'RE now at, and you'll see that while we haven't reached Park Slope terrain, we're gaining. We're almost up to prime 5th Ave Park Slope, which took a dive to $80ish. Just 10 years ago you could expect to find a place in our neighborhood for $25/sf and a longterm lease, easy. If you struggle figuring how much the monthly rate is on a joint, I like to think of a typical 800 s/f store at $60 s/f is about $5K a month. The math is simple but daunting. Make that much (net after sales) just to break even. And that's on the LOW end of the spectrum in big bad BK. You'll need to clear $20 to $25 K each month in the toniest nabes. Just feast your eyes on these puppies:
- Franklin Street between Meserole Avenue and Commercial Street in Greenpoint saw the highest increase in asking rent at 41% or $89/square foot compared to Winter 2016, while 7th Avenue in Park Slope came in second with a 35% increase at $129/square foot.
- 86th Street between 4th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Pkwy in Bay Ridge came in third with a 29% increase at $110/square foot for ground floor retail space versus $85 from last year.
- Washington Street between Main and Water Streets in DUMBO saw a 13% rise in asking rents at $127/square foot while the Fulton Street corridor between Boerum Place and Flatbush Avenue saw an 8% rise with a whopping asking rent of $326/square foot.
- The Report states the increase on Fulton Street can be attributed to the seemingly endless numbers of residential towers being developed in the area as well as to new retailers hoping to attract “spillover” customers from City Point.\
- Brooklyn Heights’ Montague Street spanning Hicks Street to Cadman Plaza, and Prospect Heights’ Flatbush Avenue from 5th Avenue to Grand Army Plaza both remained the same since Winter 2016, with asking rents at $188/square foot and $102/square foot, respectively.
- The Report notes that the Flatbush Avenue corridor has remained the same since REBNY began compiling these reports in Summer 2015, however they see the strip’s potential to increase significantly with the Pacific Park residential project in the works.
- Over in Cobble Hill, Court Street between Atlantic Avenue and Carroll Street experienced a -14% drop to $151/square foot whereas asking rents along this corridor were $175 in Winter 2016. Smith Street between the same borders also saw a decline of -12% down to $122 versus $139 in Winter 2016.
- According to the Report, leasing on Court Street has slowed due to competition from the adjacent Smith Street which offers lower asking prices for ground floor retail spaces.
- Park Slope’s 5th Avenue between Union to 9th Street also saw a decrease of -8% down to $78/square foot as opposed to $85/square foot from Winter 2016. Hopefully these lower asking prices will help to fill up the many empty storefronts currently lining 5th Avenue.