In the Boroughs: Businesses are seeing green
The crowd at Front Street Pizza has changed quite a bit since the Leonardis family opened shop in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo 23 years ago. Once just a lunch spot where workers from the mostly industrial area stopped for a plain slice and a soda, the pizzeria now also serves everything from Caesar salads to paninis. Customers include young families, visitors from the other boroughs and tourists from around the world.
The slow evolution of the neighborhood to include more offices and apartments helped, but nothing like the opening two blocks down the street of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, a budding 1.3-mile stretch of green along the waterfront that has become the area's hottest drawing card. The increased foot traffic has been a boon for businesses in Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights—the neighborhoods that sandwich the park—spurring a new wave of restaurants and shops as well as residential development.
"Brooklyn Bridge Park is one of those once-in-a-century game changers that influence neighborhoods," said Timothy King, managing partner of CPEX Realty in Brooklyn Heights. "I think the impact of the park has barely been felt."
When it is completed, it will sprawl over half a dozen piers and upland areas totaling 85 acres. Even with work on only two of the six piers done, the park is already drawing 90,000 people on a typical summer weekend, according to a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., the nonprofit organization that manages the property.
Businesses like the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, which sits at the entrance to Pier 1 on Old Fulton Street in Dumbo, are feeling the love.
"We get three or four times as many people since the park opened," said owner Mark Thompson, noting that on a Saturday in the summer, that can mean as many as 4,000 customers.
At Pier 1, a waterfront promenade overlooking the towers of the financial district, outdoor concerts and movies have been added to the mix. Many visitors come via New York Water Taxi, which docks next door at the Fulton Ferry Landing.
Among those placing their bets on the park is Chris Wogas, president of Bike and Roll, which set up a bike rental kiosk next to the dock. Aided by an agreement with the New York Water Taxi service to offer discounts to bike renters who also ride the ferry, bike rentals have grown by more than 50% in the past year.
Near the southern end of the park in Brooklyn Heights, a new two-acre Swing Valley playground at the entrance to the park's Pier 6 is having its own impact. Along Atlantic Avenue, which leads down to the park, a crop of stores catering to young families has sprung up.
"It's been positive for businesses that have an orientation toward kids," said Joseph Szende, president of the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District.
At least five new businesses have opened along the avenue, noted Mr. Szende, including apparel store Nest Egg Kids; Mini-Max Toys; and Moxie Spot, a funky child- oriented eatery that offers games, daily story time and birthday parties. Moxie Spot owner Nat Rubin said he opened in 2008 in anticipation of the park's development, and he bills proximity to the park—less than two blocks away—prominently on his website.
"When there's a kid-focused event at the park, we see a dramatic increase in volume," he said.
Property values rising
To tie the neighborhood more closely to the park, the BID recently applied for a Small Business Services grant to make the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway underpass, which lies between the stores and the park, more inviting, with signage and advertising for Atlantic Avenue businesses.
The park has also been good for the area's residential property market. Apartment rents have risen by 20% in Brooklyn Heights since 2009, according to Robin Rae, a broker at Brick Realty there. In Dumbo, the picture is much the same.
At the new development One Brooklyn Bridge Park, just one block south from Pier 6, condominiums are selling for $800 per square foot, according to Philip Henn, a vice president at Corcoran Group.
Next year, construction is slated to begin on a new hotel and apartment complex at Pier 1. Developers Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital will team up to build an approximately 200-room hotel and an apartment building with at least 150 units. The project is expected to generate $120 million in fees over the course of the 97-year lease—in $3.3 million chunks annually—to help fund the maintenance and operation of the park.