Brooklyn’s condominium market is still going strong.
The state approved 525 new residential condo units in the borough during the third quarter of 2017, the second highest number of approved units to hit Brooklyn in more than a year, according to The Real Deal’s analysis of data from the state Attorney General’s office.
The number of approved units was down slightly from the second quarter of this year, when it was at 559, but up significantly from the first quarter, when it was at 241 units. The number for July, August and September was also far lower than the 993 units approved in the second quarter of 2016, the highest number of approved units for the borough in the past five years.
Although neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO tend to land the biggest headlines when it comes to splashy real estate deals in Brooklyn, one of the largest condo approvals during the third quarter took place out in Sheepshead Bay, where developer Bentley Zhao is planning a 56-unit project at 2128 Ocean Avenue. Other large projects this quarter included a 40-unit condo at 4th Avenue and 15th Street in Gowanus from Brookland Capital and a 34-unit condo at 695 Sixth Avenue in Sunset Park from developer Yanniny Ochoa.
Zhao’s Sheepshead Bay project has an expected sellout of just under $43 million, while the Sixth Avenue Sunset Park condo projects a roughly $40 million sellout. The projected sellout at the Gowanus development stood at about $30 million.
Since the beginning of 2012, Brooklyn condo filings have topped 525 units five times in addition to the second quarter of 2017: the fourth quarter of 2014 into the second quarter of 2015, when they hit 573, 664 and 583 units; and the first and second quarters of 2016, when they hit 573 and 992 units. The plans dropped sharply following their peak halfway through 2016 but have risen fairly steadily since then.
A TRD analysis in April found that developers could have a tough time meeting Brooklyn’s demand for condos due to high land prices and nervous lenders.