Borough Developers Pays $83.5 Million for Pair of Downtown Brooklyn Development Sites

Borough Developers Pays $83.5 Million for Pair of Downtown Brooklyn Development Sites

Borough Developers has closed on the purchase of two adjacent parcels in Downtown Brooklyn from ICER Real Estate for $83.5 million, with plans to build a four-building residential project featuring ground-floor retail.

The properties at 485 Fulton Street and 147 Lawrence Street sit at the intersection of the two streets in one of New York City’s most active residential submarkets. Together, the sites cover roughly 133,000 square feet, though current zoning allows for as much as 356,369 square feet of future construction — a gap that gives the buyer substantial latitude in shaping the scale of the planned complex.

JLL Capital Markets brokered the land sale, with a team including Michael Mazzara, Ethan Stanton and Brendan Maddigan representing the transaction. In a statement, Mazzara pointed to the rarity of assemblages of this size in the neighborhood, citing its transit access, housing demand and established retail corridor as key draws.

Deal activity in the area reflects broader strength in the submarket. According to JLL, Downtown Brooklyn has absorbed more than 10,000 new residential units since 2014 while sustaining an average vacancy rate of just 3.6 percent over the past decade — figures that have kept the district among the top apartment markets in greater New York City.

The transaction adds to a steady stream of capital flowing into Downtown Brooklyn, where developers have pursued mixed-use residential projects to capture demand from renters seeking proximity to Manhattan and the neighborhood’s growing commercial base. The retail component planned at the base of the complex would align with the Fulton Street corridor, a major shopping strip that has drawn national retailers in recent years.

JLL, the brokerage and investment management firm whose capital markets team arranged the sale, trades on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of approximately $15.8 billion; shares closed at $334.85, up 1.12 percent on the day.

What to watch

• Permits and filings for the four-building residential complex at 485 Fulton Street and 147 Lawrence Street.
• Any announcement of construction financing for the planned 356,369-square-foot development.
• Downtown Brooklyn vacancy and absorption data in upcoming JLL market reports.

Source: original release