Apartment Deliveries in Brooklyn Double as Developers Target Luxury

What makes Brooklyn a draw for new projects? Its dynamic neighborhoods that make residents happy, including Williamsburg and other parts of North Brooklyn that offer residents urban living, according to Rodriguez.

"Brooklyn has a strong brand that developers know renters understand," he further noted.

Developers not only see the borough as an opportunity to attract residents — but NYC apartment owners as a whole benefit from the market's tight availability.

"New York City's vacancy rate is 2.7%. The national average is 8.3%," he added in context. "New York, even when adding a ton of units, is critically undersupplied," said Rodriguez.

Brooklyn Developers Target Luxury

Based on the supply that came online over those three months, an "overwhelming majority" represented luxury units, said Rodriguez. Given the high cost of the market, today's New York renter favors a fair share of amenities. This gives value to tenants in an expensive market.

"I think renters are okay with spending if they're happy with where they're living and I think the amenities are going to dictate that, even though there is more demand than supply," Rodriguez explained.

Some amenities in these new luxury developments include co-working spaces, fitness centers and community space, as Rodriguez pointed out and stated, "all those things are baked into the pricing because the units themselves are efficient and modern."

Questions Remain About New Administration

But some questions remain ahead for multifamily. There are broader economic conditions and concerns over trade policy that have been pushing construction costs higher.

Locally, meanwhile, New York City will be getting a new Mayor come January 1 — that's Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on improving affordability and freezing rents on stabilized apartments. Of course, that's causing some jitters in the local CRE sector.

The good news, however, Mamdani has shown a recent willingness to work with the private sector to solve the housing crisis. He supported the recently passed ballot measures, including fast-tracking applications, simplifying the review process for modest projects and establishing an appeals board to potentially override decisions. This will likely speed up the approval process and save developers time.

"I think that is a sign of good faith from the city. And I think developers can be a little bit more hopeful that their projects will be seen with less scrutiny in the future," Rodriguez said.

Building a relationship with the CRE sector will be key. Sure, Mamdani might influence the Rent Guidelines Board to freeze rents on stabilized apartments — but perhaps there is a way the two sides can find common ground. Rodriguez talks about promoting the 485-x tax abatement program, which applies to homeownership or multiple dwelling unit projects that start construction by June 15, 2034.

While Brooklyn did see a surge in apartment completions recently, CoStar expects to see a "massive decline in deliveries" in the short term, as the last of the supply from 421-a comes online. For now, questions remain about development for NYC heading into 2026.