According to The Wall Street Journal, new high-rise rental developments in downtown Brooklyn are reporting strong leasing activity this spring.
Despite intense competition, new high-rise rental developments in and around Downtown Brooklyn are reporting strong leasing activity this spring.
Four buildings with about 2,000 affordable and market-rate apartments began leasing toward the second half of last year. Two buildings, 300 Ashland across for the Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Ashland a few blocks away, reported they have leased more than 60% of their market-rate apartments.
At a third, at 461 Dean Street, more than half of the market rate units have been leased despite a series of rent increases, said Ashley Cotton, an executive vice president at Forest City Ratner Cos.
Buildings in the area first offered deep concessions of at least two months free rent on a one-year lease but, as the market strengthened, that typically fell to one month. The proximity of the buildings helped boost rentals, said Christopher Jaskiewicz, chief operating officer of the Gotham Organization Inc., which built The Ashland, because people looked at several buildings at the same time.
“The fact that we were all there, we helped each other,” he said. At 300 Ashland, Rebecca Epstein, director of residential leasing at Two Trees Management Co, which built the 35-story tower, said she expected to lease the entire building by the fall. “The pace has exceeded our expectation,” she said.
