Ofer Cohen

NEW YORK CITY—After a six-year run up in the Brooklyn market, sales volume began to level off this past year, according to the newly released 2016 Year-End Brooklyn Market report from TerraCRG, the exclusively Brooklyn-focused commercial real estate brokerage firm.

However, the market still showed signs of strength. While transactional volume saw a 20% decrease, however, the average price per square foot of properties increased across all asset types. The largest price per square foot increase was in the multifamily sector, which saw a 17% increase from 2015 to 2016 and represented the asset class with the highest dollar volume, totaling over $2.69 billion. Across all asset types, the average transaction size in Brooklyn is now $5 million, up from $1.3 million in 2010.

In total last year, according to TerraCRG's seventh annual report, there was a total of 1,504 commercial sales across Brooklyn in 2016, with a total consideration of approximately $7.8 billion.

The sale of four Watchtower Portfolio assets represented 11% of 2016's total dollar volume. The assets, 25 Columbia Heights, 124 Columbia Heights, 85 Jay Street and 61-77 Adams, totaled for approximately $855 million. Without the completion of these transactions, the adjusted dollar volume would have been approximately $6.9 billion, slightly higher than the predicted $6.5 billion.

As anticipated, transaction volume for residential development sites dipped mid-year, but showed signs of recovery in Q4 with a total consideration of $568 million, aided by the Watchtower sales.

“In 2017, we expect the Brooklyn market to continue to stay strong,” declares Ofer Cohen, founder & CEO of TerraCRG. “With no major portfolio trade such as the Watchtower, total dollar volume will either plateau or decline slightly. While inventory continues to be tight, prices of walk-up multifamily assets are expected to remain very strong.”

Ofer Cohen

NEW YORK CITY—After a six-year run up in the Brooklyn market, sales volume began to level off this past year, according to the newly released 2016 Year-End Brooklyn Market report from TerraCRG, the exclusively Brooklyn-focused commercial real estate brokerage firm.

However, the market still showed signs of strength. While transactional volume saw a 20% decrease, however, the average price per square foot of properties increased across all asset types. The largest price per square foot increase was in the multifamily sector, which saw a 17% increase from 2015 to 2016 and represented the asset class with the highest dollar volume, totaling over $2.69 billion. Across all asset types, the average transaction size in Brooklyn is now $5 million, up from $1.3 million in 2010.

In total last year, according to TerraCRG's seventh annual report, there was a total of 1,504 commercial sales across Brooklyn in 2016, with a total consideration of approximately $7.8 billion.

The sale of four Watchtower Portfolio assets represented 11% of 2016's total dollar volume. The assets, 25 Columbia Heights, 124 Columbia Heights, 85 Jay Street and 61-77 Adams, totaled for approximately $855 million. Without the completion of these transactions, the adjusted dollar volume would have been approximately $6.9 billion, slightly higher than the predicted $6.5 billion.

As anticipated, transaction volume for residential development sites dipped mid-year, but showed signs of recovery in Q4 with a total consideration of $568 million, aided by the Watchtower sales.

“In 2017, we expect the Brooklyn market to continue to stay strong,” declares Ofer Cohen, founder & CEO of TerraCRG. “With no major portfolio trade such as the Watchtower, total dollar volume will either plateau or decline slightly. While inventory continues to be tight, prices of walk-up multifamily assets are expected to remain very strong.”

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Rayna Katz

Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

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