I’ve spent a lot of time walking around the neighborhoods near me (Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Red Hook), especially during the pandemic, and there seem to be many places for sale. So I stopped into a few local real estate offices to see what they would tell me.
H.L. Dynasty Real Estate Corp
“I’m born and raised in Red Hook,” the owner, H.L. Lopes said. “I saw the neighborhood go down. I was very interested in real estate and I started buying real estate in Red Hook to develop the neighborhood. I’ve been doing that for about 30-40 years, so it’s been a really long time now.
“My father passed away when I was nine years old so I made it my goal to make him proud of me and it was also my goal to make this neighborhood great again. Most of the neighborhood is owned by me and my company and I’m proud to have brought so many different tenants and people into the neighborhood. I had a vision when I was 19 and people thought I was crazy because I was so young but that vision is still there and now we’ve also branched out to a lot of other neighborhoods too.”
Lopes brought the school BASIS Independent Brooklyn into Red Hook despite push back from some local politicians. The school was built as of right and has now been open since 2014.
“I wanted to make sure my tenants benefited the neighborhood and I’m proud to say that 100 percent of my tenants have benefited Red Hook,” Lopes said. “One of them is the Red Hook Initiative. I was building a building on Hicks and West 9th and they got in contact with me. They were almost out of the neighborhood at the time because they had no place to stay and they fell in love with it and I thought it was a great fit for the neighborhood.”
While Lopes has had lots of success and won numerous awards, he has had to get through some rough times to get to where he is now.
“In the early ‘80s, I started out buying properties,” Lopes said. “I think it was around 1984 or 1985 when the first recession really hit and everything started going down. I suffered a lot back then.
“I was renovating the buildings I had in Red Hook but I also had a construction company. I would put the money coming in from the construction company into renovating my buildings. But that money stopped because people were not fixing their homes, so I had no money coming in from construction and quite a few vacant homes.
“I suffered so much that I promised myself not to do that again. I was able to get out of that by whatever little work did come up, and one by one, I’d renovate each apartment and rent it out. I almost went bankrupt but I learned from it and then when the recession hit in the 2000s, I had saved up and I was sitting on a lot of money.
“I also avoided having one tenant with too much land so instead I would have a lot of different tenants so I wouldn’t have to rely too heavily on one.”
Lopes also spoke to me about what the real estate market was like at the height of the pandemic and how it is right now.
“Early in the pandemic there were a lot of people leaving New York but now rentals are starting to go back up,” Lopes said. “There are a lot of people that are working from home now so it’s become much more common for young couples or single people to get two bedrooms instead of one because now they’ll use one of the bedrooms as an office. The two bedrooms went right away and so did the smaller commercial spaces.
“The bigger commercial spaces aren’t going because the rent is too high and because of the property tax. The mom-and-pop stores have also been hit really hard with more people working from home and using Amazon. Personally, I prefer to go to the local businesses instead of using Amazon.”
Lopes concluded by telling me “A lot of people don’t know who I am or who we are but I developed Red Hook. I had a vision all those years ago, and I’m looking forward to continuing to bring tenants to Red Hook that will benefit the neighborhood.”
Listings:
“Most have already been taken but we recently brought another artist, a beer company, and a recording studio into Red Hook,” Lopes said.
A few listings on the H.L. Dynasty Real Estate Corp. include:
6 Bay St. in Brooklyn: 6,000 square feet.
240 24th St. in Brooklyn: 1,140 square feet.
750-758 4th Ave. in Brooklyn: 2,600-20,200 square feet (with three spaces available.)
Galeano Real Estate
I next stopped by Galeano Real Estate located at 104 Union St. to talk to Frank Galeano about some of the commercial listings in the neighborhood.
“I actually started out here in December of 2000, so I’ve seen some changes in the neighborhood,” Galeano said. “I grew up here. My mother immigrated from Italy in 1929 and my grandfather immigrated from Italy in 1905 and ended up living on Sackett St.
I asked him why he ended up going into real estate and Galeano’s father who is also a part of the family business said: “Well he had to do something, so why not this!”
“I like to work for myself,” Galeano said. “It’s something I know I can do and I really believe in the product that I sell.”
Galeano’s son Arturo also started working in the family business and has now been working there for two years.
“I’ve been around [Galeano Real Estate] my whole life with my dad and I’ve always found it interesting,” Arturo said. “Some people say working with your dad is hard, but it can be really great too.”
I remember hearing that the pandemic was really tough on realtors and asked Frank Galeano about his experience during the pandemic.
“There was very little business during the lockdown and I think I only rented one apartment during the first stretch of the pandemic,” Galeano said. “Thankfully, the market has recovered and is very strong again now.”
Galeano also told me about some of the trends and changes in the real estate market.
“I started right before 9/11, and in the aftermath, the huge cloud of dust landed here [in Brooklyn] and suddenly there were a lot of vacant apartments because people were moving away. It was obviously a very sad way to get started but a very busy time too.”
“New York has historically been a very stable real estate market full of primary residences and people who work in the city. After 2009, things changed. New York has a lot of secondary homes and as a result, it’s more valuable than it was in the past. One year ago it was really tough to rent anything but now prices are going up. Rents are up 10 or 20 percent and commercial rents are also rising. So many people from other countries and other parts of the U.S. have come to Brooklyn looking to start successful businesses.”
After I asked Galeano about how he has adjusted to changes in the neighborhood over the years, he told me that “the important thing about loving the neighborhood is accepting change. We can’t tell the ocean what kind of waves to make; we can only swim the best we can.”
Galeano’s Commercial Real Estate Listings:
487 Union St. Corner storefront in raw condition (also has a basement.) 736 square feet and asking for $4,000 per month. 3 applicants: An office, a photo studio, and a cafe owner
101 Union St. 3,000 square foot warehouse $7,750 per month. Currently occupied by a company that sells motorcycle gear.
94 Luquer St. 1,000 square foot warehouse for rent r $3,500 per month.
139 9th St. 1,620 square feet with 13 foot high ceilings ar $5,000 per month.
115 Van Brunt St. 800 square foot storefront with a backyard r $4,000 per month.
22 Woodhull St. 1,600 square feet r $3,200 per month.
531 Clinton St. Asking for $2,000 per month and it will be something medical-related.
225 Columbia St. Used to be the Red Apple restaurant-rented it out to a bagel shop. Now it’s being repaired and will become a neighborhood-style bar and grill.
Joseph DiFiore of Awaye Realty
I also had the opportunity to speak to Joseph DiFiore of Awaye Realty, which is located at 526 Court St. Awaye Realty opened in 2003 and DiFiore started working there in 2009 but he has been a realtor since the 1980s.
“I started working in real estate for James Realty in Bay Ridge when I was 19-years-old because I wanted to make some extra money,” DiFiore said. “Apartments were going for $150-$250 then so things have definitely changed a lot. At the time, I was a full-time postal employee but I’d get that done, run home and shower, and start at this job. I worked seven days a week, at night and on Sundays. ”
DiFiore transitioned to working full-time as an associate broker and for years worked for Century 21 Real Estate and then started working at Awaye Realty. DiFiore’s profile on Awaye Realty’s website says that “He achieved company status [during his time with Century 21 Real Estate] as “’Top Gun’ in 2004, 2005, and 2006… The highest producing company agent out of 120 agents.”
DiFiore has sold a lot of commercial real estate as well as homes and apartments, including one place located at 18th Ave. and 67th St., another located at West 9th St. and Smith St., and an $18.5 million listing located at Nevins St. and Butler St.
“It was very exciting to close on that one but the big deals aren’t something that happened for me overnight,” DiFiore said. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication to make that happen.”
However, despite his success, the pandemic was still a challenging time for DiFiore and Awaye Realty.
“Awaye Realty was forced to close because of the law but we never stopped working,” DiFiore said. “We had lots of vacant apartments and no one that wanted to rent them. There were so many people leaving and a lot of supply but no demand. We struggled to stay afloat but we managed to do so.”
However, after a very difficult stretch, the real estate market has improved significantly.
“The market really bounced back in the last 6-7 months and every property that we list, we sell,” DiFiore said. “Real property is selling for asking price and above, and rental prices are stable. The pendulum has swung back and now it’s a seller’s market and landlord’s market. Now we have a lot of people who want to rent and not many properties to rent.”
DiFiore also gave some advice that applies to realtors and other jobs as well, saying “You have to be ambitious. If you’re ambitious and you work hard good things will start to happen.”
Commercial Listings on Awaye Realty’s Website:
9 Prospect Park West: Approximately 1,152 square foot professional suite for sale for $1,200,000.
478 Smith Street, Brooklyn NY 11231. Use: Restaurant: the burrito spot. Approximately 2400 square foot business for sale for $398,000.
641 President Street, Park Slope. 170 -400+ square foot office. Asking for $1,500 per month rent.
4th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217. Between St. Marks Pl & Warren Street. Commercial/Office Space for Rent in Park Slope! Approximately 5,000 square foot office space on the 2nd floor with high ceilings. Large open space with 10 separate rooms. Asking for $5,000 per month rent.
13th Street, Brooklyn NY 11215. Between 6th Avenue & 7th Avenue. Approximately 1,800 square foot space available and ready to move-in IMMEDIATELY Situated on the 2nd floor with elevator offering a large reception/waiting room with space for 3 receptionists, consulting rooms with sinks, doctor’s offices and 2 Bathrooms. Asking for $7,000 per month rent.
