Brooklyn, NY Simon Baron Development, a New York City developer and owner of commercial and residential real estate, has acquired 12 Franklin St., located at the corner of North 15th St. for $24 million. The 30,500 s/f retail commercial building represents Simon Baron’s first acquisition along the Williamsburg and Greenpoint waterfront.
“We are excited for this to be our first property in the rapidly developing and vibrant Williamsburg/Greenpoint neighborhood,” said Matthew Baron, president of Simon Baron Development. “We feel that the site presents an ideal opportunity to be among this pocket of retailers, creative offices, restaurants, galleries, hotels and new/old industrial uses, and that it’s following a similar trend to what was seen in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District neighborhood nearly 20 years ago.”
12 Franklin Street - Brooklyn, NY12 Franklin St. is located in the 20-block area in between the residential development of Greenpoint to the north and the commercial area of North Williamsburg to the south. The property is a small-scale of what the area offers, with a mixture of old and new commercial uses and is currently home to a handful of retail, office and restaurant tenants including Northern Territory, a restaurant offering Australian fare, beers and inventive cocktails, Dirck the Norseman, a German-style brewpub, Scilabs Music, offering scientific-themed rehearsal spaces, Eastern Metal Supply, distributors of custom and standard aluminum extrusions and sheet products and Overall Murals and Bacik, an NYC Outdoor Advertising Company, to name a few.
Brendan Maddigan and Mark Lively of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller – 12 Franklin Street Realty Corp. and 8 Meserole LLC. Simon Baron was represented in-house and HKS Capital arranged the debt financing for the developer.
“This retail-driven and highly encumbered development site at 12 Franklin St. received a tremendous response from the market,” said Maddigan. “This manufacturing zoned area is currently experiencing an influx of commercial development, and we knew our efforts had to target retail investors and developers in order to achieve a successful sale.”
Ideally located across the street from the East River and Bushwick Inlet Park, the property has ample access to public transportation, including the G subway line on Nassau Ave. and the Bx32 bus stop is located directly across the street from the building. The Williamsburg/ Greenpoint area is a vibrant working-class neighborhood that is occupied with both young artists and professionals while retaining much of its original and diverse population.
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