Updated quarterly, this report from the DBP Real Estate team provides insight on real estate market data, development progress and commercial leasing activity in Downtown Brooklyn.
155k REAL ESTATE
3,334
Of the 26,853 housing units built since 2004 were completed in Q2 2025.
12
New retail businesses opened + 26 businesses coming soon.
Square feet of office leasing this quarter.
157k VISITATION
2.1M
Monthly visits to Downtown Brooklyn (visitors not classified as employees or residents), a 4% year-over-year increase.
3.5M
Monthly subway riders, a 4% increase year-over-year. (Source: MTA)
HISTORIC 2025 HOUSING DELIVERY
Downtown Brooklyn has delivered an astounding 3,703 residential units so far in 2025, including 1,048 affordable units, with another 1,183 homes expected by the end of the year. This is a record high for housing built in a single year in Downtown Brooklyn, shattering the previous record of 2,925 units completed in 2022. View our newly build development dashboard to learn more.
Monthly Citi Bike riders. a 4% increase yearover-year. (Source: Citi Bike)
COMMERCIAL OFFICE
COMMERCIAL OFFICE LEASING
• Brooklyn Prospect Charter School (BPCS) has signed a 35-year lease for 150,000 sq. ft. (previously reported as 260,000 sq. ft.) at The Wheeler, located at 422 Fulton Street. BPCS will join St. Francis College in the building and will bring the building occupancy up to 82%.
• The Brooklyn office of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which previously occupied space at 250 Livingston Street, has relocated to the ninth floor of 345 Adams Street.
• Finance firm Maycomb Capital inked a lease for 5,488 square feet at 1 Willoughby Square.
COMMERCIAL OFFICE VACANCY + RENTS
In the first quarter of 2025, office asking rents in Downtown Brooklyn remained stable at $57.48 per sq. ft. - a -0.9% decrease quarter-over-quarter and a –1.8% decrease year-over-year. Overall vacancies rose to 22.4%, up 20 bps from the previous quarter and 180 bps from the same period last year.
Downtown Brooklyn’s asking rents remain $1.3 per sq. ft. higher than in Lower Manhattan. Vacancy in Lower Manhattan saw an improvement at 22.8%, comparable to the vacancy rate in Downtown Brooklyn. Midtown and Midtown South continue to command the highest rents at $76.13 and $81.31 per sq. ft., respectively, though Midtown South maintains a higher vacancy rate of 25.1%, underscoring Downtown Brooklyn’s competitive positioning as an affordable and improving office market alternative.
Source: Cushman & Wakefield Overall Average Asking Rent PSF by Submarket
RETAIL
NEW RETAIL ACTIVITY
Downtown Brooklyn saw 12 new retail openings and several leasing announcements during the past several months. This includes:
• Nike opened a 16,000-square-foot store at Atlantic Center, across from Barclays, in late May.
• Discount grocer Lidl opened its doors at the end of May at 490 Fulton Street. The new store is located on the second floor of the building in the former Raymour & Flanigan space. This comes as a similar discount grocery chain, Aldi, announced plans to open at the newly constructed apartment building at 20 Rockwell Place.
• There have been several retail announcements at the Ace Hotel. Lele’s Roman, serving upscale Italian fare, opened in June as the hotel’s anchor restaurant. Record store Finer Sounds also began operations at the hotel as the only store of its kind in all of Downtown Brooklyn. Additionally, a new sushi restaurant, Sushi Koju, is opening in the courtyard at the Ace Hotel in September.
• Premium nail salon, Luna Nails, opened at 45 Hoyt St.
• Van Leeuwen Ice Cream opened at City Point in early July. The creamery has entrances inside the City Point concourse, as well as Albee Square W. The healthy fast casual chain Just Salad is coming to City Point soon, with its storefront facing Albee Square West. Adding to the momentum, Swarovski has signed a lease in Prince Street at City Point.
• Chick-fil-A opened their second location in the neighborhood at 31 Smith Street in July.
• Popular smoothy and açaí chain, OAKBERRY, opened its doors at 230 Livingston St in July.
• Le Cafe Coffee opened at 17 Hanover Pl. The cafe is at the corner of Hanover Pl. and Grove Alley, offering premium coffee and light fare.
• Turkish restaurant Istanbul Mediterranean Grill came to 231 Duffield Street this past quarter at the base of the Webster Apartments.
There have been several exciting coming soon announcements in the neighborhood, including:
• BSE Global, the parent company of the New York Liberty and Brooklyn Nets, announced plans to convert the vacant Modell’s space at 617 Pacific Ave into a youth basketball facility. The 19,000 sq. ft. space across from Barclays Center will include 1.5 basketball courts and will include programing for youth basketball.
• Two new food establishments are coming to The Pioneer Building at 41 Flatbush Ave; Acai bowl and smoothie chain, SoBol, and pastry shop, Brooklyn French Bakers, signed leases.
• The Livingston, a JdV by Hyatt hotel, is currently wrapping up construction at 291 Livingston, and has announced their food and beverage offerings. They include The Grove Lantern, a new restaurant with seating and access on Grove Alley; the Golden Finch Cafe on Livingston Street, and The Pirch, a 23rd floor rooftop bar.
Photo Credit: Alex Staniloff
Nike Opens at Atlantic Center
Finer Sounds at 252 Schermerhorn
Van Leeuwen at City Point
RESIDENTIAL SALES
In the second quarter of 2025, the median asking price per sq. ft. in Downtown Brooklyn was $1,393, an increase of about 7.4% year-over-year.
• The median asking price per sq. ft. for 1-bedroom apartments in Downtown Brooklyn was $1,253 this quarter, which is 1% above last quarter, and about 1% less than Q2 2024.
• For 2-bedroom units, the median asking price per sq. ft. was $1,435, which is a 6.6% decrease from last quarter and a 6.3% increase year-over-year.
Median Residential Asking Price Per Square Foot, Downtown Brooklyn
RESIDENTIAL RENTALS
The average residential rent in Downtown Brooklyn was $4,886 across all unit types in June 2025, a 2.7% increase year-over-year. Two-bedroom units saw a 1.9% increase, studios saw a slight -1.4% decline compared to last year and one-bedroom prices significantly rose, with a 7.2% increase year-over-year. Downtown Brooklyn (2.7%) and all surrounding
neighborhoods saw year-over-year increases in average rents, including Boerum Hill (5.42%), Dumbo (1.52%), Fort Greene (13.30%), Cobble Hill (8.61%), and Brooklyn Heights (6.25%).
Source: MNS Real Estate NYC
PEDESTRIAN + VISITATION TRENDS
Data from Placer.ai shows that visits to Downtown Brooklyn in June 2025 have recovered to 83% of pre-pandemic levels, with 3.1 million visits. Due to neighborhood growth, residential foot traffic has skyrocketed, and is now nearly 97% above prepandemic levels. Employee traffic, including retail and service workers, has returned to 75% of prepandemic levels, a 2% improvement since June 2024.
Notable trends include:
• Court Street and Fulton Mall have seen increases in visitation compared to June of last year. Visitation levels for both the corridors were 6% higher than those of June 2024. However, visitation has stagnated since 2020.
(VIA PLACER.AI)
• Flatbush Ave + Atlantic Ave experienced a slight increase in visitation, with June 2025 levels rising by 2% last year. The corridor has generally seen a steady year-over-year increase, with visitation levels inching closer to pre-pandemic levels each year, but remains 10% below 2019 levels.
• Livingston – Schermerhorn and Brooklyn Commons saw a slide in visitation levels, falling by 11% and 7% respectively since June 2024.
Downtown Brooklyn Visits Compared to Equivalent Month in 2019
Downtown Brooklyn Average Daily Visits by Area, June 2019-2025
Source: Placer.ai. Data includes visits of over 10 minutes to each area, including visitors, employees, and residents
Source: Placer.ai
TRANSPORTATION
PARKS + PLAZA ACTIVITY (VIA MRI ONLOCATION)
Foot traffic in Downtown Brooklyn’s parks and plazas continue to show strong activity. Trends in June 2025 show:
• Jay St + Brooklyn Commons saw average weekday visits between about 16,000 and 20,000 daily. Activity tended to peak at 5 pm, with additional spikes in foot traffic at 7:30 am and 12 pm.
• Willoughby Plaza is experiencing between 6,500 and 13,000 pedestrians each day on average, with Fridays being the most active. Hourly foot traffic peaked around 1 p.m.
• The Plaza at 300 Ashland saw between 7,000 and 10,000 visitors a day, with Saturday being the busiest day of the week. The plaza was typically most active around 5 p.m.
• Daily visits to Albee Square were between 8,000 and 12,000 on average, with pedestrian activity peaking on Fridays. 5pm tended to be the busiest at Albee Square in June.
• Abolitionist Place experienced between 3,000 and 7,000 daily pedestrians, seeing the most activity on Fridays. The park was most active around 5 p.m.
Downtown Brooklyn Average Daily Foot Traffic by Location, June 2025
Brooklyn Average Foot Traffic by Location by Time of Day, June 2025
Downtown
TRANSPORTATION
SUBWAY RIDERSHIP
In May 2025, subway ridership across all Downtown Brooklyn stations saw a 4.2% increase year-overyear, with over 4,500 more subway trips in Downtown Brooklyn each day. May subway ridership has recovered 73.6% of 2019 levels. Takeaways include:
• Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center (B,D,N,Q,R,2,3,4,5) had the largest year-over-year increase in ridership, up 10.7% compared to May 2024, with over 3,000 more daily riders.
• Hoyt-Schermerhorn (A,C,G) has experienced the strongest pandemic recovery, with ridership numbers at 82.4% of pre-pandemic levels.
• Other stations with ridership increases were DeKalb Ave (B,Q,R) (8.7%), Jay St-MetroTech (A,C,F,R) (2.5%), and Court Street / Borough Hall (2,3,4,5,R) (0.4%).
• Stations with declines in ridership year-overyear were Hoyt St (2,3) (-4.5%) and Nevins St (2,3,4,5) (-4.6%). Hoyt-Schermerhorn (A,C,G), despite strong post-pandemic recovery, ridership stayed about the same as last year with a slight decrease of -0.2%.
Downtown Brooklyn Average Daily Subway Ridership by Station, May 2019-2025
CITI BIKE RIDERSHIP
In June 2025, Downtown Brooklyn recorded over 157,000 Citi Bike rides - a 4% year-over-year increase, with 6,069 additional riders. Ridership per station in June 2025 was nearly 600 rides higher on average compared to June 2024. Stations seeing the largest growth include Willoughby St & Ashland Pl near Fort Greene Park, Willoughby St & Fleet Pl near LIU, Hanson Pl & Ashland Pl near Atlantic Terminal, DeKalb Ave & Hudson Ave near Brooklyn Paramount, and State St & Smith St.
DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW
As of Q2 2025, Downtown Brooklyn development includes:
• 163 projects completed since the 2004 rezoning, including 26,853 residential units (of which 5,802 are affordable), 2,777 million sq. ft. of office space and 2,482 million sq. ft. of retail.
• 12 projects under construction, including 2,246 residential units (437 of which are affordable) and 73,100 sq. ft. of retail.
• 25 projects planned, including at least 4,412 residential units (of which 1,098 will be affordable).
Recently Completed
The Brook at 565 Fulton Street: Witkoff and Apollo have completed a portion of its residential tower and is currently leasing out some of its 591 units. Work on the project’s ground floor retail space is ongoing.
The Everly at 180 Ashland Place (formerly 98 DeKalb Avenue): Rockrose’s 49-story residential building with 569 units (171 of which are affordable) received a temporary certificant of occupancy this past quarter and has begun leasing.
570 Fulton Street: Developing NY State’s 163-unit project, located across from the BRIC House, has been completed.
Maxwell at 111 Willoughby: The Triangle Equities / Michaels Organization tower with 227 units (69 affordable) finished construction in Q2 and is actively leasing.
The Rocklyn at 20 Rockwell Place (formerly 625 Fulton Street): Rabsky’s residential tower featuring 1,098 units (331 affordable) has finished construction. Grocery store chain, Aldi, is preparing to occupy the building’s ground floor.
240 Willoughby Street: The Rabsky Group’s 300-unit residential project, located next to Fort Greene Park, has been completed and is now being occupied. The site was purchased for $209.5M by a Joint Venture between Fetner Properties, MCB Real Estate, and Farallon Capital Management.
23 Rockwell Place: Brookstone Developers’ 27-story building with 174 rental units, including 53 affordable units is completed and now accepting applications through the housing lottery.
Modavie at 88 Schermerhorn Street: The Jankos Group project with 58 residential units (17 affordable) has been completed.
540 Atlantic Avenue: The 154-unit multifamily development by JCS Realty Group is complete and is currently marketing units.
Maxwell at 111 Willoughby St
The Brook at 555 Fulton St
DEVELOPMENT
Ongoing Construction
The Alloy Block Phase 2: Alloy has begun site work and demolition at One Third Avenue, launching phase 2 of the Alloy Block. The mixed-use tower will rise above two restored historic buildings and include 538 residential units, including 152 affordable units, six floors of office space, and ground-floor retail along Third Avenue and Schermerhorn Street. The full Alloy Block will feature over 1,000 units (200 affordable), 60,000 square feet of office, 50,000 square feet of retail, and two energyefficient schools - anchored by the world’s tallest Passive House building.
89 DeKalb Avenue: Interior fit-outs continue at RXR’s 30-story, 324-rental unit mixed-use development. The fully electric project will include 98 affordable units and 55,000 sq. ft. of academic and office space at the base that will be used by Long Island University. A late 2025 completion is expected.
55 Willoughby Street: Interior work continues at Lonicera Partners’ 38-story, 295-rental unit residential tower. The building will include 89 affordable units and 3,500 sq. ft. of retail space. The building is slated for completion towards the end of the year.
71 Prince Street/202 Tillary Street: Madd Equities’ 31-story residential complex will yield 465 rental units, including 118 affordable units, 4,000 sq. ft. of retail space, and 40- 50 parking spaces. 71 Prince Street is undergoing interior work and is expected to be completed in early 2026.
150 Lawrence Street: The Twin Group Associates’ 25-story, 101-condo unit residential building is nearing completion. The tower will have 8,200 sq. ft. of retail space and is expected to be completed later this year.
Recently Announced
395 Flatbush Ave Ext: A new 72-story mixed-use building including 1,262 dwelling units, approximately 141,280 square feet of commercial space, and 4,750 square feet of open space is proposed at 395 Flatbush Ave by Rabina and Park Tower Group. The project, which would reuse the 7-story office building built in 1972, is seeking ULURP to rezone the site from C6-4 to a C6-12 District to allow for additional FAR. ULURP certification is anticipated in the coming weeks.
362-370 Livingston Street: Developing NY State is performing foundation work to make way for three proposed 22-story buildings, totaling 296 units. The site will include 7,162 sq. ft. of retail space.
275 Flatbush Ave Ext: The 450 residential unit project by the Jay Group is quickly ascending, with at least one of the buildings on the site has reached 15 stories. The 27 story project will include 112 affordable units and there will be 5 separate buildings at the corner of Flatbush Ave Ext. and Willoughby St.
285 Schermerhorn Street: Façade work continues at the 14-floor, 129-unit residential project and is expected to be completed in 2026.
291 Livingston Street: The JdV by Hyatt hotel, developed by Midas Hospitality, with 103 rooms is expected to open in November this year. Once completed, the hotel has plans to feature a restaurant on Grove Alley, a cafe on Livingston and a rooftop bar.
170 Remsen Street: Demolition is nearly complete on Rockrose’s development at the former St. Francis College campus. The project is set to include 747 residential units across three buildings and ground floor retail space.
95 Rockwell Place: Excavation for the foundation has commenced at Charney Companies’ 43-story, 158unit residential building. The project is expected to be completed in 2027.
Brooklyn Borough Jail Facility: Construction of the new jail facility on the block of Atlantic Ave, Boerum Pl, Smith St and State St is underway. The $3 billion project will include over 1,000 male beds and 30,000 square feet of community facilities and is projected to be completed in 2029.
45 Nevins Street: The building’s landlord, Author Anderman, filed for permits to demolish the existing 3-story building. For more than two decades the building has been occupied by the Police Department’s Special Victims Division. No new construction permits have been filed yet.
673-695 Fulton Street: Borough Developers signed a 99-year ground lease valued at $1.4 annually at 673-695 Fulton Street. The developer plans to into an 81,000square-foot development with rental apartments and ground floor retail.
NEWS + UPDATES
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN IN THE NEWS
“Downtown Brooklyn Tops NYC for New Housing“
- The Real Deal
“Discount grocery store Lidl is opening a new location in Brooklyn”
- Time Out
“Park by Brooklyn Borough Hall could get big upgrades if judges give up parking spots”
- Gothamist
“BSE Global to Open New MultiCourt Youth Basketball Facility in Downtown Brooklyn”
- NBA
“A 72-Story Tower by TenBerke is Slated for Downtown Brooklyn”
- The Architect’s Newspaper
“Downtown Brooklyn Buzzes With Spring and Summer Fun“
“Downtown Brooklyn Partnership launched one of the more innovative tools using Ginkgo that I’ve seen this year. Their new Development Dashboard both showcases the incredible transformation happening across Downtown Brooklyn, while simultaneously setting a new bar for how BIDs and economic development groups can use data to tell their story and support stakeholder engagement.”
