Daniel Bollinger, Azad Property Group

Brooklyn, like its sister boroughs, is seeing a market slowdown these days. But with the market being ridiculously over heated over the past year a slight weakening is imminent. With the 421a tax abatement expiring in January of this year one could have expected a slowdown. But in no way is the market down and out. The numbers may be a little skewed since close to 8,000 permits were approved for just under 300 different projects all over New York City leading up to the 421a tax abatement expiration. There are still a number of new projects in the works and development is still going strong. Some of the larger ones in Brooklyn include: 280 Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights. This will be an interesting development to keep an eye on since there was some hoopla about it because Hudson Companies took over a public institution, The Brooklyn Public Library. Hudson Companies does promise to include the library branch in its new construction. I am excited to see how the architects pay respect to the library. Another large construction project is 848 Lorimer St. in Greenpoint. Straddling McCarren Park it is slated to have a host of amenities in the 49 unit residential building. Greenpoint continues to experience a boom in construction since it is Williamsburg’s neighbor and Williamsburg development has exploded over the past few years. 48 Somers St. in eastern Bed-Stuy is the third largest development to file permits lately with Haim Levy planning a seven story 34,000 mixed-use including a community facility, retail, and 24 apartments. Another project that I am very interested in seeing how it develops is 524 Halsey St. roughly ten blocks or so from 48 Somers Street. I worked on this off market listing but alas was not able to finalize a deal. Brooklyn Capital has filed permit applications for a conversion. This will be an interesting conversion since it is landmarked and the building façade cannot be changed.

Some other interesting items in Brooklyn are going on. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are selling three of their prime Brooklyn properties in Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo. One property is 85 Jay which is a full block and offers close to one million buildable s/f. Praise the lord this is quite a development opportunity. I will go down on record as saying this will set a new price record for real estate in Brooklyn.

Gross and Grobman families who own the Key Food at 325 Lafayette St. in Clinton Hill have entered into a joint venture with Slate Property Group. This is a brilliant way to keep the owners whole while developing the area as well. It is similar to the Katz Delicatessen deal on Houston Street in Manhattan. Katz is getting a brand new deli and keeping the culture/vibe of the Lower East Side that it helped establish and the developers get to build. More partnerships like these will help soften the four letter word association with the word “gentrification”. I hope to see more of these types of joint ventures in the future in Brooklyn. It will help maintain the Brooklyn culture, keep the current business whole, and hopefully soften the negative connotation of “gentrification” amongst Brooklyn residents.

The largest towering skyscrapers that would be almost twice the height of Brooklyn’s current tallest building has been filed by two developers. A 73 story 1,006 ft. tall building could be in the works at 9 DeKalb Ave. This could set a new trend for Brooklyn development in terms of height. If approved and built it will be the tallest building outside of Manhattan.

The PC Richard and Sons located at 590 Atlantic Ave. could become Brooklyn’s largest office building. This would be a huge win win for Brooklyn. The plan is for office space to be developed which would increase jobs and commercial activity in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn. There are still some hurdles and issues to be worked out between PC Richard, Forest City, and Empire State Development Corporation but I am sure something big is going to be going up there soon enough.

Despite the ‘slowdown’ Brooklyn continues to move forward in becoming the destination city of the 21^st century. There is only one thing that is being overlooked by everyone...keeping the culture of Brooklyn whole by focusing on all of our residents’ needs. I am specifically referring to mayor DeBlasio’s ‘infilling’ program slated for Ingersoll and Whitman affordable houses. I would like to go down on record as saying this “infilling” is a horrible idea. It is time to come up with a solution. The four million buildable square feet in this area can house The new Brooklyn Ballet Theatre Company, allow BAM to expand which they need to do so badly, create a Brooklyn Opera House, house a new Brooklyn Museum (and/or allow the Brooklyn Children’s Museum to expand and/or move to this area), and more. We can build all of this and keep all of these residents whole.  Unfortunately I think that only I and maybe Donald Trump have the vision to see this. Mr. Trump, I know you’re busy on your path of “Making America Great” again but if by chance you’re reading this if I could have one or two hours of your time I would love to pitch you my ideas about this area of Brooklyn. I think you are the only person who could see the potential in this overlooked area as much as I do.

Daniel Bollinger is a senior associate at Azad Property Group, New York, N.Y.