18 Wyckoff Avenue - Artichoke Pizza

This corner restaurant space was formerly occupied by Northeast Kingdom. The rent for Northeast Kingdom was $4,000 per month or $40 PSF. Despite its fame and popularity, it was not able to meet its monthly rental obligations, and often had disputes with their landlord for its high rent.

When MCRE was hired, we saw that it was not an issue of rent, because even the market rent at the time was in fact closer to $50 (when evaluating comps). MCRE considers more than comps, and concluded that the 1,200 SF just needs a business that’s more suited for the location. With that conclusion, MCRE was able to secure Artichoke Pizza for more than 3X the former rent. Seven years later, they are still operating successfully and profitably.

17 Wyckoff Avenue - Cocktail Magique (5.0 on Google)

17 Wyckoff Avenue was formerly a bar named Gradient when MCRE was hired to lease the space. However, it was also a bar before it was Gradient. Both bars had failed within a year, so what can change this pattern?

MCRE successfully and swiftly leased the bar to the operators of Company XIV, a very popular burlesque theater in Bushwick. Now, more than four years later, they are still successfully operating and enjoying rave customer reviews for the experiences and drinks offered at 17 Wyckoff Avenue.

MCRE is not only about closing deals, but we always, always, consider the longevity of the tenant prior to engaging in a long-term lease negotiation.

429 Kent Avenue - Brooklyn Global Prep (4.7 on Google)

429 Kent Avenue was a brand new condo development [at the time of lease] developed by Xin, a publicly traded company, which spanned an entire city block in South Williamsburg. The building offered high-end residences designed by Piet Boon, and famous celebrity residents.

The 7,500 SF was the only commercial space available in the building, which sat vacant for over two years while the developer tried and hoped to attract an art gallery.

Thereafter, MCRE was hired exclusively to lease the oddly configured space with multiple challenges, including multiple columns, dead spaces from poor planning, and foreign imported building mechanicals that did not function as needed. We’ve also understood that an art gallery was not the ideal tenant/user for the space, so we’ve made it a priority to target pre-schools just as we had advised the client beforehand. Through MCRE’s diligent work, we secured a multi-unit Montessori School from New Jersey that invested heavily into the space to make it what it is today.

Ultimately, a 15-year lease was signed at $56 PSF, a record rate, especially for a space that was limited to community use and signed in 2020 during the pandemic - Proving that we can work with tough spaces and tough times. The owners were then able to sell the community-use condo shortly after signing the lease for a price much higher than ever projected.