Williamsburg for Grownups

There's a magical place in Brooklyn called Greenpoint. It has Billyburg's hip factor—but fewer hipsters. That leaves more room for families—and rents, condo prices, and land prices reflect its growing popularity. Here's more on Greenpoint and what it costs to get into other key BK neighborhoods.

MNS’s Dave Behin, whom we snapped at his Williamsburg office, says Greenpoint is in good shape to absorb an influx of residents, with plenty of grocery stores and neighborhood retail. He tells us three-bedroom units sell like hotcakes (also available at said grocery stores)—that is, when they're available. And as rents and condo prices rise, land has gone up from $150/buildable SF to $250 in the past 12 months.

We also snapped Dave’s colleague Jay Heiselmann showing off the office’s Brooklyn pride. Dave says North Williamsburg land is getting us much as $400/buildable SF in prime locations, as expensive as Manhattan just three years ago, Dave says. It's more than Alfa Development paid for 245 W 14th St (now the 27-unit Village Green West condos), for example, in a deal Dave brokered back then.

Cobble Hill is one of Brooklyn’s priciest neighborhoods, Dave says, and it’s already pretty built out. On Feb. 25, he closed the sale of the existing 3,350 SF mixed-use building at 325 Smith St for $3.3M. That’s $973/SF, but the investor wasn’t a restaurant or bar, as Dave expected for a corner location near the subway. Rather, the buyer acquired it for both a residence and ground-floor medical office (though what is a doctor's office but a restaurant for your circulatory system?). Above: Dave and the shipping container that houses MNS’s conference room.