We Buy Buildings & Development Sites in Downtown Brooklyn

Local Knowledge

How the 2004 Rezoning Reshaped Downtown Brooklyn

Downtown Brooklyn has long been the borough’s civic and commercial center, home to Borough Hall, the courts, MetroTech, the Fulton Mall shopping district and one of the densest concentrations of subway lines in New York City. In 2004, the city adopted the Downtown Brooklyn rezoning, which allowed much higher density across the area. It was intended largely to encourage new office development; in practice, it unleashed one of the largest residential building booms in the city’s history.

In the two decades since, dozens of residential towers have risen along Flatbush Avenue Extension, Fulton Street, Livingston Street, Schermerhorn Street, Willoughby Street, Albee Square and nearby blocks, including the tallest building in Brooklyn. Retail centers, hotels, dormitories and cultural venues have followed. Downtown Brooklyn today feels less like a traditional office district and more like a dense, mixed-use neighborhood.

Even so, much of the area remains underbuilt. Two- and three-story commercial buildings, older office buildings and small walk-ups still sit on lots whose zoning permits significantly more floor area. Those properties are the core of what we buy here.

Development Rights

Air Rights, Zoning Lot Mergers and Assemblages

In New York City, a lot’s allowable floor area is set by its zoning district. When a building uses less than the maximum, the difference is unused development rights — often called air rights. Under zoning lot merger rules, those rights can generally be transferred to adjacent lots that are combined into a single zoning lot, allowing a neighboring development to build larger. This is common in dense areas like Downtown Brooklyn.

For an owner, air rights create options: sell the whole property, sell only the unused rights while keeping the existing building, or combine lots with neighbors to create a larger development site. Each path has legal, tax and practical implications, including declarations recorded against the property, light-and-air considerations and effects on future flexibility.

We evaluate all three. If you own a low-rise building next to an active development site, or several adjacent parcels that could be combined, we can show you what each approach might be worth and which one best matches your goals.

Conversions

Office-to-Residential Conversions

Remote and hybrid work have left many older office buildings with high vacancy, and both the city and state have moved to encourage converting them into housing. City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, approved in December 2024, expanded the pool of buildings eligible for residential conversion to include buildings constructed before 1990 throughout the city, and the state enacted a tax incentive in 2024 for conversions that include affordable housing.

Not every office building converts well. Floor-plate depth, window placement, column grids, elevator and stair cores, plumbing risers and existing leases all determine whether a conversion is feasible. We evaluate those factors building by building and can make an offer on an older office or commercial building whether or not conversion turns out to be the best plan.

Regulated Buildings

Rent-Stabilized and 421-a Buildings in Downtown Brooklyn

Many of the residential towers built after the 2004 rezoning received 421-a tax benefits, and their apartments are subject to rent stabilization during the benefit period, with affordable units restricted for much longer. As older 421-a benefits phase out, owners face rising taxes while many units remain regulated. Other projects started under 421-a(16) before the program closed to new starts on June 15, 2022 and must obtain certificates of occupancy by applicable deadlines — June 15, 2026, or June 15, 2031 for projects that filed a qualifying letter of intent — to keep benefits.

On the neighborhood’s edges, older pre-1974 walk-ups toward Boerum Hill and Fort Greene often include rent-stabilized apartments. For those owners, the June 2026 rent freeze for leases starting October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 adds pressure to already tight margins. We buy both newer 421-a buildings and older stabilized walk-ups. See our guides to 421-a buildings and rent-stabilized buildings.

Blocks We Know

Streets and Sub-Areas We Focus On

• Fulton Street and the Fulton Mall — retail buildings and mixed-use properties in the commercial core
• Livingston, Schermerhorn and State Streets — low-rise commercial buildings and development sites
• Flatbush Avenue Extension and Albee Square — high-density corridor with tower development
• Willoughby, Duffield, Bridge and Lawrence Streets — mid-block sites near MetroTech and Jay Street
• Atlantic Avenue and the Boerum Hill edge — walk-ups, mixed-use buildings and brownstones bordering the core

Why Owners Sell

Typical Reasons Downtown Brooklyn Owners Sell to Us

• Long-held retail and commercial buildings whose owners want to capture development value without building.
• Owners of underbuilt lots next to active development sites.
• Office owners facing vacancy, leasing costs and refinancing pressure.
• Owners of 421-a buildings approaching the end of their tax benefit.
• Developers of stalled projects dealing with cost overruns, lenders or deadlines.

Development Math

How We Value a Downtown Brooklyn Site

For development sites, we start with the zoning: district, maximum floor area, height and setback rules, and any special district requirements. We then layer on affordability — Mandatory Inclusionary Housing where it applies, 485-x tiers and wage requirements for projects seeking a tax benefit, and City of Yes’s Universal Affordability Preference, which can allow additional floor area for permanently affordable units. Next come construction costs, financing costs, timeline and projected rents or sale prices. Only then do we arrive at a land value.

We share our key assumptions with you, so you can see how we reached our number and compare it with other offers or with the option of holding the property.

Our Process

How We Buy in Downtown Brooklyn

After a confidential conversation, we review zoning, air-rights availability, existing leases, permits, violations and tax history. We walk the property, then deliver a written offer with price, deposit, due-diligence period and closing date. For air-rights transactions, we outline the proposed structure and the documents that would be recorded. Your attorney and ours handle the contract and closing, and we can accommodate leasebacks, delayed closings and 1031 exchanges.

Due Diligence

What We Look at in a Downtown Brooklyn Property

• Zoning and remaining floor area, including any special district rules and prior zoning lot mergers that may have already used some of the lot’s rights
• Existing leases — commercial terms, renewal options, relocation clauses and tenant quality
• Building condition — structure, façade, elevators, mechanical systems and code compliance
• Title and recorded declarations — easements, light-and-air agreements and restrictive declarations
• Environmental history — prior uses and any E-designations
• Adjacent sites — neighboring development plans that could make an assemblage or air-rights transfer more valuable

Most of this information is public, and we collect it ourselves before asking you for anything beyond the basics.

Partnerships

Joint Ventures for Land Owners

Some Downtown Brooklyn owners want to benefit from a future development without taking on construction risk. In those cases, a joint venture can make sense: the owner contributes the land, or the land plus adjacent rights, and we lead design, approvals, financing and construction. The owner shares in the project’s value instead of receiving a single sale price today. Joint ventures are more complex than outright sales and involve careful legal and tax planning, but for the right site and the right owner, they can produce a better long-term result.

Timing

Market Conditions for Downtown Brooklyn Sellers

Land values in Downtown Brooklyn are sensitive to construction costs, interest rates, affordability requirements and rents. Since 421-a closed to new projects in 2022, residential feasibility depends on 485-x, which requires affordable units and, for larger buildings, minimum construction wages. City of Yes has added flexibility, including additional floor area for permanently affordable housing and relief from parking requirements in transit-rich areas. The net effect varies by site, so a lot that didn’t pencil two years ago may work today — or the reverse. A current, written offer is the best way to know where your property stands.

Location

Transit Access and Block-Level Value

Downtown Brooklyn is served by more subway lines than almost anywhere outside Midtown Manhattan, with stations at Jay Street-MetroTech, Borough Hall, Court Street, DeKalb Avenue, Nevins Street and Hoyt-Schermerhorn, and the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center hub just to the east. That access supports high residential rents and strong retail foot traffic, but conditions still vary block by block. A corner on Fulton Street, a mid-block lot on Willoughby Street and a walk-up near Boerum Hill’s brownstones are very different assets, and we price each accordingly.

Retail

Selling a Retail Building in the Fulton Mall Area

The Fulton Mall is one of the busiest shopping streets in New York City, and many of its buildings have been owned by the same families for generations. These properties often combine valuable ground-floor retail leases with underused upper floors and significant unused floor area. Owners weighing a sale should consider lease expirations, co-tenancy and relocation clauses, the cost of reactivating upper floors, and whether the site is better valued as an income property or a development parcel. We evaluate both views and can buy with existing retail tenants in place.