The warehouses and industrial buildings of Dumbo are getting new commercial and retail tenants as leases expire and companies expand.
Three tech tenants — Vice Media, Carrot and Flocabulary — have moved into 55 Washington St. after Etsy outgrew its 80,000 square feet there and doubled in size at nearby Dumbo Heights.
“It got to the point where we couldn’t accommodate their growth,” says Jed Walentas, a principal of Two Trees, whose family company literally invented the area and owns Dumbo’s 2.5 million square feet of commercial space along with residential properties.
Vice leased 30,000 square feet, while Carrot, its newly purchased creative agency, was already in Dumbo at 45 Main. It expanded into 43,700 square feet at 55 Washington. “Their appetite for space is large,” said Walentas of Vice, which will maintain its Williamsburg headquarters.
Creative education company Flocabulary has also moved to 9,340 square feet to 55 Washington where it expanded from Dumbo’s 20 Jay St. Flocabulary, in its new home, uses hip-hop music to reinforce concepts from history to math.
Another current tenant, the one-stop shop content creator Mustache Agency is also enlarging its space at 20 Jay to 9,275 square feet.
At 45 Main, Aragon Advertising, which connects brands and consumers, leased 4,480 square feet through Seth Godnick at Adams & Co.
Another creative thinking agency, Now What, leased 5,696 square feet at 45 Main through Kelly Broderick at Cushman & Wakefield.
In looking at what amenities current tenants now seek, last year Two Trees built a big roof deck at 50 W. 23rd St. in Manhattan. “It was so well-received that we decided to renovate in Dumbo,” says Walentas.
Roof decks are being created at 55 Washington, 45 Main and 20 Jay St. and all have been designed by James Corner Field Operations, the group that created the High Line park. “More and more, it is something tenants are looking for,” Walentas adds. “While we have such a great amenity at Dumbo with the waterfront park, the roof decks are a different kind of space.”
At the street level, tenants that include Grimaldi’s Pizza, Jacques Torres chocolates and the Almondine bakery are being joined by a handful of new ones as commercial tenants have requested more lunch spots.
SweetGreen, the Washington, D.C., fresh salad chain that already has 10 outposts in Manhattan and one in Williamsburg, will open at 45 Main, the former West Elm Market of 3,600 square feet. They were represented by Jacqueline Klinger at SCG Retail.
The compounding pharmacy, Modern Chemist, which started in Park Slope and now has two locations in Brooklyn, will open a third of 1,600 square feet at 62 Water St.
Local coffee house, Brooklyn Roasting Co., is opening its second location of 1,400 square feet in a former Equinox sales office at 55 Washington St.
The fresh-food restaurant, Westville, with three locations in Manhattan, has now leased the former 2,536-square-foot Dish space at 81 Washington St. It was represented by Square Foot Realty and will open soon.
“We are now getting a lot of calls from national brands, but we want to focus on the more independent retailers and activate the street,” Walentas says.
“We are really excited about everything and constantly improving the tenant and the visitor experience.”
