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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN is awash in fast-food shops, shoe stores, subway stops and cutting-edge culture. Now it's about to find itself inundated with something unimaginable just a few years ago: luxury rental apartments.
Next month, The Clarett Group will open the leasing office for the tallest building ever built in Brooklyn, the 54-story, 490-unit apartment tower dubbed The Brooklyner. At the same time, Forest City Ratner Cos. will begin marketing its 365-unit rental at 80 DeKalb Ave. Both are following the lead of nearby Avalon Fort Greene, which began aggressively pushing its own 650-unit entry at 343 Gold St. in September.
"This is the most rental units I have ever seen in the neighborhood," says Joy Cox, who grew up in the area and is now a broker at Urban Sanctuary. "There are too many, too close together, and I think a lot of units will sit there for a while."
Collision course
THE THREE NEW luxury towers - the first high-rise rentals ever to hit the local market - are debuting at a bad time. Landlords at several nearby stalled condominium projects are busy converting their unsold units to rentals, and several failed projects that have been turned over to their banks may follow suit.
It also comes as rents...