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As Williamsburg has become more
fashionable and pricey (and mainstream),
its bohemian residents have been driven to
other neighborhoods in search of more
affordable rents. The same thing has
happened with many of the independent
retailers that initially set in motion
Williamsburg’s retail renaissance. In fact,
the question should not be which Brooklyn
neighborhood is going to emerge as the
next Cool Street, but which
neighborhoods? Certainly, cases can be
made for Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick,
Crown Heights, Fort Greene and a few
others. But this report is not just about
identifying the next hipster residential
enclaves, it is also about finding the
emerging Cool Streets with the most retail
growth potential.
Sunset Park is situated on Brooklyn’s
western waterfront and is bordered by Park
Slope and Greenwood Heights to the north,
Borough Park to the east and Bay Ridge to
the south. Largely an industrial
neighborhood since the early 1900s,
Sunset Park had been in decline for much
of the latter half of the past century. That
began to change a couple of years ago
with the opening of Bush Terminal Park
and a number of rehabilitation projects
along the waterfront — the most
substantial of which has been the
redevelopment of Industry City.
The Industry City complex consists of
roughly 6.0 million square feet (sf) of
formerly vacant industrial space
redeveloped as creative mixed-use office,
retail, and industrial. The retail component
alone totals 500,000 sf and is already
home to Bed Bath & Beyond, BuyBuy Baby,
Cost Plus, and Saks Off Fifth (expected to
open later this year). These retailers do not
usually appear on a roster of Cool Street
tenants, but Industry City offers an urban
rarity: existing, large footprint availability in
a desirable marketplace. Industry City has
reportedly leased all but 1.8 million sf of its
6.0 million sf of space to more than 400
companies, with tenants like West Elm, the
Brooklyn Nets and Time joining
e-commerce and tech players like Shyp
and BaubleBar.
Residential realtors already report
skyrocketing demand for row houses on
the perimeter of Industry City, while
numerous loft projects backfilled long-
vacant industrial space. Because of the big
box retail deals, one might question
whether independent retailers will be
active here at all.. Even as more
mainstream retail box concepts continue
to ink deals at Industry City, a number of
independents, start-ups, and mom-and-
pops have been actively looking on Sunset
Park’s prime corridors. With retail asking
rents generally ranging from $75 to $175
per sf, expect even more interest from a
steady stream of retailers of all stripes in
this area in the future.
26.9%
Millennial Population
$81,529
Average
Household Income
Sunset Park:
Where Boxes and Independents Co-exist