NEW YORK CITY—Newmark Grubb Knight Frank took a big step this year: it opened a Brooklyn office. In this first installment of a three part series on the borough, GlobeSt.com talked EXCLUSIVELY with the head of that office, managing director Whitten Morris, in this first part of a series.

GlobeSt.com: While Brooklyn is heating up, it's been on industry radar screens for some time. So why did NGKF make this move in 2016?

Whitten Morris, managing director, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank: A lot has happened there. Certainly there's residential development and home sales have been going on for a long time but the number of commercial projects coming online is really going to change the borough.

For a long time there were just a few properties, like MetroTech and Two Trees' projects. But recently, developers have acquired properties so we thought the time was right to apply the level of service owners expected in Manhattan to Brooklyn. Things are happening so quickly there, in terms of new projects coming and retail, so it's important to have boots on the ground.

GlobeSt.com: What are you seeing across the borough?

Morris: People ask how Brooklyn is but the parts are different from one another. For example, Dumbo is doing well but in Industry City there's a lot of supply; though it's cool supply with value pricing.

Starting in Northern Brooklyn, like Williamsburg, there are a number of exciting projects coming online, such as 25 Kent, the Domino Sugar factory site, 29 Ryerson and others. For a long time the area had cool retail and good residential development but not much commercial inventory, and what was there wasn't good quality.

With the new projects, we will see activity from office tenants who were in Dumbo or Downtown Brooklyn. There are many companies where the CEO lives in Williamsburg and would like to take 20,000 square feet but before, there wasn't anything available. Now, over the next six to 18 months, as projects come online these tenants will say 'Holy cow, now I can do deals there.'

Dumbo has cool residential buildings, the promenade and good transportation with the A,C and F trains. The area has WeWork and Etsy so we have had tenants come from Manhattan.

These aren't tenants looking for cheap space, so they prefer to be here and they're willing to pay up. Brooklyn is not a value play, in many cases it's now a lifestyle choice. Dumbo is really doing well and that will continue for 2017. It has Watchtower coming online in the next few years and we will hear about tenants take space there. That will be an opportunity for a company to make a real statement, and the cherry on top of the area.

In Downtown Brooklyn, there's a lot going on between Borough Hall and Barclays Center. The transportation is so good, there's Metrotech and it's getting Tishman Speyer on top of Macy's and City Point, a mixed-use complex. Trader Joes, Apple and Whole Foods stores are opening and new office inventory is coming. The area's been perceived as back office space for a while but the trajectory is really promising.

Lastly, there's Sunset Park/Industry City. It's two stops from Lower Manhattan and one stop away from Barclays on the N train. There is a cool mix of tenants and they're not all high paying; some are looking for value. We're the leasing agent for Building 19 and we're asking for mid $30s.

GlobeSt.com: What the future of Brooklyn?

Morris: The population there is the fastest growing of all the boroughs and residents moving in are higher paying millennials. The number of sales over $5 million is pretty astonishing and they're CEOs or founders who now see cool office inventory nearby. That's not to say we don't need help from Manhattan, we need firms there opening offices in Brooklyn—that has to be part of the story.

For many companies, it's not a matter of if the move is being made, it's a matter of when. Once you see a big name tenant make the move, the floodgates will open. We'll have a lot of the city's workforce in Brooklyn in 2017.

GlobeSt.com: While Brooklyn is heating up, it's been on industry radar screens for some time. So why did NGKF make this move in 2016?

GlobeSt.com: What are you seeing across the borough?

Dumbo has cool residential buildings, the promenade and good transportation with the A,C and F trains. The area has WeWork and Etsy so we have had tenants come from Manhattan.

GlobeSt.com: What the future of Brooklyn?

Instant Insights /

Brooklyn Office Poised to Take Off

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