Takeaways:
- Multifamily groundbreakings in New York City during the first half of 2015 are a key to why the metro leads the nation in multifamily/commercial construction activity.
- One borough that will contribute a significantly higher number of units moving forward is Brooklyn.
- Brooklyn is expected to add roughly 22,000 new rental and condo apartments in the next five years.
The volume of multifamily groundbreakings in New York City during the first half of 2015 is a primary reason why the metro leads the nation in multifamily/commercial construction activity.
One borough that will contribute a significantly higher number of units moving forward is Brooklyn.
The borough is expected to add roughly 22,000 new rental and condo apartments in the next five years, according to recent data from CityRealty.
The pace of multifamily building in Brooklyn is expected to reach a 10-year high in the next two years, with 5,000 new units delivered in 2016 and nearly 6,000 units completed in 2017. Spanning 2017 to 2019, the borough will see more than 14,000 unit deliveries.
Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg will see the most new construction. Brooklyn will be the home of more than 6,400 new units in the next five years, while Williamsburg should see roughly 4,300 new apartments.
“While Brooklyn has historically been known for its single-family houses, there is a crush of buildings with 20 or more units under construction, many of them rising 10 or more stories,” CityRealty noted.
The volume of large-scale development projects is one reason for the spike in Brooklyn construction activity.
Two large-scale developments, which comprised 24 buildings, will account for a combined 12,000 new units. The developments are titled Pacific Park and Greenpoint Landing.
Four additional large-scale developments will also account for a combined 5,400 units.
According to recent Dodge Data & Analytics data, New York City led the nation during the first half of 2015 with $17.3 billion of commercial and multifamily project starts. This dollar figure represented a 72 percent increase from the first half of 2014.
Multifamily activity was up 67 percent from a year ago in NYC, with 24 projects valued at more than $100 million each breaking ground. Three projects that started are valued at between $500 million and $600 million apiece.