Top real estate magazine Real Deal is predicting that Brooklyn will transform into a "bona fide" tech hub by 2026. With an estimated 48 million square feet of office space, the borough is anticipated to become the home of the hottest sector of New York City's economy.
Recent survey shows that the tech industry has unseated Wall Street. From 2009 to 2013, employment in the city's tech sector grew by 33 percent. As of the third quarter of 2015, New York has raked in more than $5.6 billion in venture capital its tech sector, the highest since 2000.
The tech industry is currently taking root in Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens. However, in 10 years, it is expected to be in full bloom and will definitely demand more office space. Brooklyn will be the only logical choices for techies.
From Williamsburg and Greenpoin in the north to Sunset Park in the southern part of the borough, Brooklyn is the sixth-largest office market in the entire United States. It is only behind Atlanta and San Francisco, according to a CBRE report dated October 2015. Aside from the 48 million square feet of office space it currently has, Brooklyn is expected to add 8.5 million square feet more because of new development and major repositionings in the pipeline.
Currently, the borough is seeing major developments that are all aimed at tech tenants. Notable developments include the renovation of Brooklyn Navy Yard's 960,000-square-foot Building 77, development of Boston Properties and Rudin Management's 675,000-square-foot Dock 72, Est4te Four's new 1.1-million-square-foot Innovation Studios and Midtown Equities' Empire Stores warehouse renovation. In addition, Heritage Equity Partner is currently developing Brooklyn's first speculative office building in decades, a 400,000-square-foot office located at 25 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg.
Forest City Ratner president Mary Anne Gilmartin forecasted that Brooklyn will be a "go-to headquarters" in 2026 for media or technology companies with a "really strong brand."
