Dumbo Offices Draw White Collar Crowd

Like the flying Disney elephant, Dumbo office space is taking off with creative tenants and white collar types.

The Brooklyn neighborhood – an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass – has followed its namesake s tradition to emerge as an up-and-coming neighborhood, drawing not just middle-class residents and retail establishments, but a wide variety of professional and creative office tenants.

In March, Goodtree Media, the brainchild of hip-hop singer and actor Mos Def, leased 1,800 square feet of space, joining several of the music and film industry businesses in the neighborhood.

But the hip hood s charm isn t restricted to creative types. In May, KMPS Mortgage Warehouse leased 3,300 square feet in the same building, at 55 Washington Street. That came on the heels of an announcement that the non-profit organization, The International Center for Tolerance Education, leased 11,000 square feet in 25 Washington Street, right down the street.

These recent announcements are part of a larger change. The neighborhood used to attract mostly manufacturers and artists, but is seeing an influx of white collar tenants, says Chris Havens, director of leasing at Two Trees Management. The company owns much of the office space in the neighborhood, including both 25 and 55 Washington Street.

“We got our first lawyer in 1999 – now we have six of them,” Havens says. “We got our first accounting firm last year.”

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Havens attributes the shift both to zoning changes that went into effect in 1997 and allowed old factories to be converted to alternate uses – and intangible attitude factors.

“Brooklyn has become groovy,” Havens says.

It s also a good deal compared to space across the river.

“The price is right for very high end, Class A office space,” says Michael Forrest, executive managing director of CH Commercial, which represented Mos Def.

Rents in the neighborhood peaked in 2000 at about $20 to $25 per square foot, Havens says. They fell about 25 percent once the recession hit, and have now come back almost to peak levels, he said. That s still a good deal compared to Manhattan prices.

CH Commercial s Forrest says that tenants like Mos Def may not have come to the neighborhood if Two Trees hadn t invested in creating high quality space where there once was none.

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