Williamsburg retail thrives despite L-train shutdown plan
The looming 15-month shutdown of the L train’s East River tunnel may have decreased demand for apartments in Williamsburg, but the neighborhood’s retail sector is still relatively healthy.
A recent report from the Real Estate Board of New York found that the average asking rent for ground-floor retail space along Bedford Avenue from North Eighth to Grand streets declined 11 percent between the summer of 2017 and the summer of 2018. However, it was still $351 per square feet annually, the highest among 16 retail corridors in Brooklyn that REBNY surveyed, according to Crain’s.
Farther up Bedford Avenue, from North Eighth to North 12th streets, average retail rent increased 3 percent to $151 per square foot; and on nearby stretches of North Fourth and North Sixth streets, rents increased by 34 percent to $197 per square foot, Crain’s reported.
