Downtown Brooklyn Complex Ushers In New Leases

Downtown Brooklyn is seeing a spike in office leases at one specific property, the MetroTech Center.

The 5.5 million square foot mixed-use complex has seen a total of 132,000 square foot in lease transactions so far.

This includes a variety of companies including HeartShare Human Service of New York renewing its 32,696 square foot lease, SoulCycle extending its outdoor studio through June and the IRS renewing its 48,000 square foot lease

JLL also signed an 11-year lease to manage coworking space Orchard Workspace. The new workspace will feature UV air purifiers, mobile dividers and a micro market for food and beverages.

Other tenants include Slate, Think! Architecture and Design, Uniworld Group, JPMorgan Chase and several others.

“Despite the pandemic, we continue to see strong leasing activity and interest at MetroTech and throughout the Brookfield commercial and retail portfolio,” said Mark Kostic, SVP of asset management and leasing at Brookfield Properties.

This activity is notable as a Colliers report at the end of 2020 found that neighboring Manhattan’s office leasing activity declined 55% from October and 80% year-over-year.

However, the beginning of this year saw promise, with leasing activity in Manhattan increasing by 18.6% in January, the highest since July 2020.