Brooklyn’s Major Office Sales Totaled $80M in 2019

Brooklyn, New York City

Two significant office sales hit the Brooklyn market in the first half of 2019, but none were recorded in the second half of the year. In the first quarter, a 61,200-square-foot space changed hands for $24.2 million, $395 per square foot. That was followed in the second quarter by a 150,000-square-foot property selling for $56 million, which equates to $373 per square foot.

Activity was down in both quarters of the first half of 2019 compared to Q4 2018 and Q4 2017, which registered two sales each. In terms of the number of deals, no quarter has yet surpassed Q3 2015, when four transactions were recorded totaling $180.9 million.

Sales volume in recent years peaked in the second quarter of 2017, which saw three sales totaling $524.5 million. More than 1 million square feet of office space changed hands, but the price per square feet reached a low of $189 during the quarter.

The below graphs illustrate the fluctuations in sales volume between Q3 2015 and Q2 2019:

Data source: Yardi Matrix; Quarters not represented in the graphs registered no commercial transactions exceeding the $5M threshold.

Data source: Yardi Matrix; Quarters not represented in the graphs registered no commercial transactions exceeding the $5M threshold.

In 2019, nine office properties were completed in Brooklyn, totaling more than 2.7 million square feet. These include:

• Kingswood Center II (109,813 square feet), completed in April
• Whale Square (465,000 square feet), completed in May
• The Breeze (96,276 square feet), also completed in May
• 101 Pennsylvania (160,000 square feet), completed in June
• Sunset Yards (200,000 square feet split between two buildings), completed in July
• 320 & 360 Wythe Ave. (85,667 square feet with two buildings), completed in September
• 25 Kent (511,161 square feet), also completed in September
• Brooklyn Navy Yard – Dock 72 (688,000 square feet), completed in October
• Ten Grand Street (436,135 square feet), completed in November

In the rental residential market, Brooklyn rents climbed slowly during the year and reached an average of $2,956 in September 2019. With apartment construction trending downward and commercial transactions remaining steady, Brooklyn apartments for rent seem to be getting more expensive.

Methodology: We used detailed Yardi Matrix data to analyze all office transactions with price tags equal to or exceeding $5 million to close in Brooklyn during the specified timeframe.