Two Trees Management Co. just fattened up its DUMBO roster, inking seven new office leases that total more than 17,000 square feet across three of its neighborhood buildings. The fresh batch of deals pulls a mix of design, tech and healthcare outfits into 45 Main Street, 55 Washington Street and 20 Jay Street, adding another surge of small-footprint leases to the area’s growing design district.
Who moved in and where
At 45 Main Street, Think! Architecture + Design took 6,159 square feet, Bonside signed for 2,382 square feet and Clarity Cubed grabbed 1,500 square feet. Over at 55 Washington Street, Rovi Health committed to about 1,100 square feet and CTS Builders took roughly 854 square feet. The lineup at 20 Jay Street is rounded out by Veda Tech with about 3,910 square feet and Group Project Design with 1,555 square feet, according to ConnectCRE.
Leasing momentum in DUMBO
These signings are the latest in a steady streak for Two Trees, which has been quietly stacking up office deals across the neighborhood. The firm has told reporters it has locked in hundreds of thousands of square feet of new leases over the past year. Commercial Observer reported that the company had signed more than 200,000 square feet of new leases in Dumbo over the prior 12 months, signaling that demand for creative office space remains heavily focused in Brooklyn’s design hubs.
What the landlord says
Two Trees' in-house leasing team, named in the announcement as managing directors Alyssa Zahle and Elizabeth Bueno, associate director Nicole Serras and director Jarad Winter, handled the transactions. In a statement reported by ConnectCRE, Elizabeth Bueno said, "Building on a year of strong leasing momentum, DUMBO’s community continues to expand as creative firms co-locate within the new design district." It is a tidy way of saying the creative crowd is still clustering along the waterfront.
Why small footprints still matter
The run of suites under 4,000 square feet in this batch of deals highlights a microtrend that industry observers say favors flexible, design-oriented tenants and keeps landlords in a relatively strong position on pricing at smaller sizes. CRE MarketBeat noted that the blend of architecture, design and healthcare users setting up shop in DUMBO is helping sustain leasing activity even as the broader office market continues to look uneven.
