[IMGCAP(2)]"This just shows that we don't need to schlep to Midtown Manhattan to talk about real estate," said David Kramer, principal of Hudson Cos. Inc. and member of the roundtable's Steering Committee at the event. "I think today highlighted all the things going on in Brooklyn: the Navy Yard, new condos in Prospect Heights and exciting office renovations on Court Street."
Gregg Winter, president of Winter and Co., said that "the market isn't dead. I was looking for much worse numbers." Winter said his firm is active with construction financing and bigger companies are still getting money, but mediocre and smaller companies are having a harder time.
"We're very excited to be here," Chris Gulden, VP of SL Green said about his company's purchase of 16 Court St. The office building is SL Green's first property in Brooklyn. "Whether or not we purchase more depends on the degree of success."
Gulden said 16 Court St. is 22% vacant and under renovations for the next 12 months. Attorneys and real estate offices make up most of the 317,000-sf building's clientele. The tower is getting $45 per sf for office space. "We are giving a lower cost to our customers," Gulden said.
Panel talks highlighted the Navy Yard, pointing to the fact that developers will soon start improvements. The site houses more than 1.3 million sf of industrial, but also includes more than 1.9 million sf of developable land, including 280,000 sf for film/media and 90,000 sf for retail.
"We have a mayor who's seen the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a jewel," said Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. "It's been a sleeping giant for many years. We are branding this as a sustainable industrial park. All new developments will be green."
Joseph Salvo, director of the population division at the New York City Department of City Planning, discussed patterns that change an area's demographics and ethnic population. "We don't know where the next 'cool' area is going to be," Salvo said. "A pattern of young people still continues to come to the west side of Brooklyn."
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