Brooklyn: Why it’s Time to Move to Broadway Junction

There’s this lingering fear among current apartment-searchers located in North Brooklyn about what will happen when the L train goes down in 2019. I’ve talked to clients searching for apartments who believe that the year and a half shut down of the L train is going to “clear people out of Williamsburg and Bushwick, and make commuting to Manhattan a nightmare.” But what if I told you there was an area along the border of Bushwick, easily accessible to great coffee shops, bars, and restaurants, that not only would be just fine when the L-train shuts down, but would actually thrive?

Broadway Junction, the subway station where the L, J, Z, A, and C trains meet in Brooklyn, just beyond the edges of Bushwick,— is going to be more sought after than ever in just a couple years. But if you strike now, you’ll be way ahead of the curve.

While rental prices continue to skyrocket in places like Wiliamsburg, Bushwick, and Bedford-Stuyvesant, Broadway Junction — almost like its own neighborhood — has cheap rents and — wait for it — beautiful buildings to make your next home more luxurious than anything you’d find in Manhattan or even Williamsburg.

Walking around there with clients last week, showing apartments located about five minutes from the the subway station, I felt as if I couldn’t label it Bushwick or Bed-Stuy, but there’s a breeze coming through the area as if it could be straight from the waters of Jamaica Bay. Yes, you’re closer to the water out there, but Manhattan feels even closer than if you were living in some parts of Williamsburg.

For example, I live in an apartment in South Williamsburg right now, and I used to work in Midtown — right by Herald Square. The easiest way to commute there would be to walk about twelve minutes to the L train, hop on a Manhattan bound train at Lorimer street, and transfer at Union Square for an uptown N, Q, or R train. All in all, it was about forty minutes. And a stressful forty minutes at that. If you’ve ever had to transfer at Union Square between the L and NQR at 8:30am you know that there are hoards of people there and it can be very overwhelming.

But from Broadway Junction — and from where I showed beautiful, new apartments last week — it’s about 42 minutes, according to Google. And it’s only one train — the C train which will zip up there in no time. And who knows, if you get on early enough, you might be able to even score your own seat up to midtown.

The signs that this area is up and coming are already there. Walking around the area, there were about five buildings under construction within a five minute walk of the train station — again a hub for the A, C, J, Z, and L trains — that are being finished. And not something low quality or a walkup you might find in Manhattan. If you’re familiar with the real estate in North Brooklyn, you know many of these newer buildings are defined by luxurious amenities — stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, “virtual doormen,” balconies, rooftops, and washer/dryers on site. These are high quality buildings — and right now they’re very inexpensive. For now.

In addition to the accessibility to the trains, the rent right now is unparalleled for what you would get. Apartments out there are maybe the same size as something you’d find in Williamsburg and, like I’ve mentioned before, are high quality. Right now you can find a beautiful, brand-new, never been lived in before, three bedroom apartment for $2200/month with great amenities, within minutes of the train station. That’s about $733 person, and half the amount of rent I’ve been paying per month now in Williamsburg for the last four years. Over the course of a 12 month lease, if I paid $700/month I would save about $9000 a year. Jeez — what would I do with $9000 a year? What if I lived there for four years (like I have at my current place). Well, in four years I’d have about $36,000. $36,000. Forget about renting after that — I could put down a down payment and buy something with the amount of money I would be saving living at Broadway Junction. But the thing is that I’m not settling. As mentioned, I would have a shorter commute, way more transit options, and have great bars and restaurants near by me, and an awesome apartment with great amenities and ridiculously low cost.

It’s only a matter of time before hipsters and high-income folk discover the convenience of living at Broadway Junction. But if you strike early, like now, or even this summer, you’d be coming into a gold mine of accessibility, transportation and, oh yeah, living in luxury for an efficient dollar.

My number is 203–209–3640, and I’m here to help YOU find your next home.