Buyers are increasingly looking to snag commercial properties in Williamsburg south of Grand Street, in hopes that the area will mirror the success of the neighborhood’s north side, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The price of land sales east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway has jumped to $150 per square foot from $75 per buildable square foot in the past 18 months, representing a “phenomenal increase,” Brendan Maddigan, director of sales for Massey Knakal, told the Journal. The brokerage arranged the sale of two commercial properties in the area this year, including a vacant lot at 307-311 Union Avenue for $2.25 million, Maddigan said.
Further west, a once-stalled development project at 53 Broadway has been resurrected by Kaish & Taub, which is planning a 72-unit project. The units will begin selling this summer, aptsandlofts.com founder David Maundrell told the Journal.
Maundrell also represented Horrigan Development and Pilot Real Estate Group in the acquisition of a site at 95 South Fifth Street, where a 27-unit residential building will be built.
“Land values have really come back strong in Brooklyn,” Maundrell, who was recently profiled by The Real Deal, said. “They’re in a much better place.” [WSJ, 3rd item] –Hiten Samtani