DoBro group offers grants to revamp office space

Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is hoping to spruce up properties along the Eastern Gateway, a six-block area on Flatbush Avenue between Lafayette and DeKalb avenues, Brownstoner reported. In an effort to convert upper-floor vacant space for commercial use, the partnership, a non-profit coalition of three Brooklyn business improvement districts, is offering up dollar-to-dollar matching grants of up to $25,000 for renovations.

In a video released today, DBP President Tucker Reed said that the bulk of the 70 buildings in the area boast historic features. “Over the years, the focus of the property owners has been on that retail level of the building at the sacrifice of the upper floors that largely sat vacant,” he said. “The time has come to support the reactivation of these historic buildings in a significant way.”

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But there is a growing demand among creative start-ups and media firms for office space in Brooklyn, the video noted. For example, Kickstarter, a crowd-source funding site, bought office space in Greenpoint over the summer.

Landlords with at least 500 square feet of vacant space inside their properties can apply. Applications are due on March 29. [Brownstoner]Zachary Kussin