Rents on retail properties through much of Brooklyn are increasing, according to a report issued Thursday by the Real Estate Board of New York, comparing the first quarter of 2016 to last summer.
The report showed slight increases in average asking rents for ground floor retail spaces in 14 out of the 15 major retail corridors throughout the borough.
“The modest rise in asking rents from last summer to this winter speaks to the sustained strengthening of the retail market in Brooklyn,” said John H. Banks 3rd, the president of REBNY.
Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Williamsburg and DUMBO have become magnets for trendier businesses, gentrification and families that years ago would never have thought of Brooklyn as home. Furthering the area’s appeal is the downtown subway hub, the Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue just a few blocks away from Macy’s which is being downsized and redeveloped, and upgrades to the Fulton Mall.
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Bedford Avenue, between Grand Avenue and North 12th Street, maintained the highest average asking rent for ground floor retail space in Brooklyn rising 3.9 percent to $361 per square foot from summer 2015 to winter 2016.
The largest price bump in North Brooklyn was on North Sixth Street, between Driggs and Kent Avenues, where some new availabilities pushed the average asking rent up 4.8 percent to $218 per square foot for ground floor space this year.
REBNY reported that all other North Brooklyn average asking rents saw small increases except for Grand Street, between Havemeyer Street and Kent Avenue, which had a negligible decline.
In Brooklyn Heights along Montague Street between Hicks Street and Cadman Plaza, little real estate availability pushed the average asking rent more than 25 percent to $188 per square foot during winter 2016, while the sample size grew by only one more availability from summer 2016.
In Cobble Hill, asking rents on both Court and Smith Streets between Atlantic Avenue and Carroll Street, increased 7.8 percent to $175 per square foot on Court Street, and 15.1 percent to $139 per square foot on Smith Street.
Further south in Park Slope, the average asking rent on Seventh Avenue, between Union and Ninth Streets, reached $96 per square foot, up 11.4 percent.
The average asking rent on Fifth Avenue, also between Union and Ninth Streets, increased almost five percent to $85 per square foot.
In Bay Ridge, the average asking rent on 86th Street, between Fourth Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway, rose 10.6 percent to $85 per square foot.
The Brooklyn Retail Report is published twice per year.