Brace Yourself, Brooklyn: Here Come the Luxury Towers

May 6, 2015 — According to real estate investment trust (REIT) AvalonBay Communities, the housing boom isn't in Manhattan, reports BloombergBusiness. The place to watch is southeast Brooklyn. In Sheepshead Bay, for example, the second-biggest publicly traded U.S. apartment landlord is reportedly "planning 200 luxury rentals in the tallest tower the community has seen in decades." So much for all those luxury condo towers in Manhattan, particularly Billionaires' Row. "There's a lot of opportunity for developers to serve New Yorkers who are not billion-dollar bankers," David Maundrell, president of Brooklyn brokerage AptsandLofts.com, is quoted as saying. Maundrell adds: "To be able to build a luxury tower near the Atlantic Ocean in New York City is an extremely unique opportunity. It's probably the wave of something bigger." Maundrell, who takes a shot at hipsters from Williamsburg, nevertheless says the objective here is not to serve a market that is priced out of Manhattan. The idea, rather, is to "fill a void for luxury housing in an area that doesn't get much of it, and cater to people who work locally in Brooklyn or commute by car to Long Island or Staten Island." At least someone is thinking about those poor mega-rich who have nowhere outrageously expensive to live in the outer boroughs.