NYC Neighborhood Commercial Real Estate: Overview
New York City is really a dozen commercial real estate markets. Each Manhattan and Brooklyn submarket has its own tenant base, its own cap rate range, its own kind of owner, and its own buyers. Knowing the submarket is how you end up with the right building instead of just a building.
Below is every major NYC commercial submarket Skyline Properties works in: the asset classes, cap rates, tenant demand, and how each one trades. Skyline Properties has closed $976M+ in NYC commercial transactions across every submarket profiled below.
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the largest office market in the world. It runs from Class A trophy towers on Park and Sixth Avenue to Class B repositioning candidates and 467-m conversion plays, and it offers more ways to invest in Manhattan office than any other submarket.
Skyline Properties has closed Midtown office deals across the full risk spectrum, including the 6 East 43rd Street $135M conversion.
- Class A trophy office on Park, Sixth, and Madison
- Class B value-add and repositioning candidates
- 467-m office-to-residential conversion plays
- Boutique office and creative space
- Hotel and hospitality
Financial District (FiDi)
The Financial District is Manhattan's most active office-to-residential conversion submarket. It has older office stock, plenty of buildings that qualify for the 467-m abatement, and a steady run of value-add office trades. Skyline Properties closed 101 Greenwich Street ($105M) in FiDi.
- Class A and B office buildings
- 467-m conversion candidates
- Value-add and repositioning
- Trophy Lower Manhattan office
Chelsea
Chelsea is one of Manhattan's most active development corridors, anchored by Hudson Yards, the High Line, and a large base of long-time owners. Skyline Properties closed 530 West 25th Street ($72M) in Chelsea.
- As-of-right development sites
- Air rights and TDR
- Multi-lot assemblages
- High Line corridor
- Mixed-use and residential conversion
SoHo
SoHo has cobblestone streets, cast-iron buildings, some of the most valuable retail corridors in the world, and tenants that range from luxury fashion houses to global creative agencies. No other Manhattan submarket trades quite like it. Skyline Properties closed 131-133 Prince Street.
- Boutique office and creative loft buildings
- High-street retail (Broadway, Prince, Spring, West Broadway)
- Cast-iron landmark buildings
- Mixed-use retail-over-office
TriBeCa
TriBeCa is Manhattan's quietest trophy submarket. The loft buildings can't be replicated, residential pricing per square foot is the highest in the city, and most commercial deals happen off-market between people who know each other.
- Loft conversions and condo buildings
- Boutique office buildings
- High-end retail and showroom space
- Mixed-use trophy assets
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is one of Manhattan's most stable multifamily submarkets. Tenant demand is deep, the pre-war housing stock can't be replaced, and its townhouse blocks have held Manhattan wealth for over a century.
- Pre-war elevator apartment buildings
- Walk-up multifamily
- Rent-stabilized portfolios
- Townhouses and brownstones
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side has remade itself into one of Manhattan's most active retail submarkets, with a tenant base of independent restaurants, boutique fashion, art galleries, and nightlife operators.
- High-street retail on Orchard, Ludlow, Stanton
- Mixed-use retail-over-residential
- Storefront condos
- Restaurant and nightlife venues
Williamsburg
Williamsburg has driven Brooklyn's commercial real estate market for over a decade, on strong tenant demand, a large supply of new construction, and steady multifamily rent growth.
- New-construction multifamily
- Value-add multifamily
- Mixed-use retail-over-residential
- Pre-war Brooklyn walkups
DUMBO
DUMBO is Brooklyn's leading creative office submarket. Design firms, tech companies, and media studios come for the converted loft buildings and the waterfront views.
- Loft conversion office buildings
- Creative office and tech tenant space
- Waterfront office assets
- Mixed-use office and retail
Greater Brooklyn
Brooklyn has been the most active borough for ground-up development outside Manhattan for the past decade. From Williamsburg to Bushwick to Bed-Stuy to Crown Heights, Brooklyn development sites continue to draw both local developers and national capital.
- Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights dev sites
- R6/R7/R8 zoning lots
- Park Slope and Prospect Heights townhouses
- Brownstone Brooklyn multifamily