Brooklyn real estate soiree celebrates the borough’s return

Location, location … and location!

November 3, 2023 Wayne Daren Schneiderman

Keynote speakers at Best of Brooklyn Real Estate Showcase at Best of Brooklyn Real Estate Showcase. Photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman

Keynote speakers.
Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman

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INDUSTRY CITY — If you build it, they will come – and indeed they did come.

Hundreds showed face in Industry City on Thursday at the “Best of Brooklyn Real Estate Showcase,” an event designed to demonstrate that Brooklyn’s real estate market is back with a vengeance.

Forty projects were highlighted – completed between January 2020 and December 2022 – covering the borough from as far south as Coney Island to the northernmost point of Greenpoint, running the gamut from commercial and office spaces, to schools – in addition to residential spaces, affordable housing, and more.

The “Best of Brooklyn Real Estate Showcase” brought together real estate and development professionals, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce members, and the public, to celebrate the scope of work that was accomplished over the past three years. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman

The event, hosted by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, brought together real estate and development professionals, BCC members and the public to celebrate the scope of work of the industry over the last three years.

Randy Peers, president and CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman

“We wanted to celebrate what we have been able to accomplish – that we were still persevering and moving forward all through the pandemic – particularly during the height of COVID,” Randy Peers, BCC president and CEO told the Brooklyn Eagle. “This is about showcasing the projects we were able to complete in the past few years.

“It’s also a spin on an event that we used to hold annually called ‘The Building Brooklyn Awards,’ but we haven’t had that since COVID,” Peers said. “The main difference here today is that this is not designed to be a competition, but instead a celebration.”

Keynote speaker Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of Partnership for New York City, spoke very positively about the real estate opportunities in Brooklyn, noting that “the demand for housing in our borough is enormous.”

“Things are happening here,” Wylde said. “Brooklyn has added more housing units than any other borough in the past three years. We’ve been doing well, and we hope to continue to see good things happen.”

Ken Fisher, a member of the law firm Cozen O’Connor, and co-chair of BCC’s real estate committee, pointed out that he is “glad to be a part of this celebration of Brooklyn’s real estate community – honoring the innovation, the drive, and the diversity of real estate.”

“We are recognizing different types of buildings that were completed during a very difficult time – and showing that things in Brooklyn kept going through the most difficult of times, and are now picking up momentum,” Fisher said, adding that, “It speaks to the borough’s resiliency.”