New Developments for Sale in Brooklyn, NY

Williamsburg carries the most new-development and sponsor listings in Brooklyn, and the two behind it are not the ones most coverage names. Bushwick sits second and Downtown Brooklyn third, ahead of Stuyvesant Heights, Crown Heights, Greenpoint, Greenwood Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, DUMBO, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill.

Brooklyn produces new housing in two shapes at once. Downtown Brooklyn and the Williamsburg and DUMBO waterfront supply towers that release dozens of units at a time. Bushwick, Crown Heights, Kensington and Prospect Lefferts Gardens supply small condominium buildings, four to eight units apiece, which rarely make the news but add up to a large share of what is for sale. If you are buying under $1 million in Brooklyn, that second group is where most of the choice is.

Two different things share this page. A new development is a building being sold for the first time under an offering plan, usually just before or just after completion. A sponsor unit is an apartment in an existing building still held by the original developer or converter and never previously sold. Both are bought from a sponsor rather than an individual owner: an offering plan instead of a seller's disclosure, no board approval in a condo, and closing costs that work differently from a resale.

Brooklyn carries more of the second kind than Manhattan does, because so much of the borough's pre-war stock was converted to condominium or co-operative ownership and the original sponsor still holds apartments in those buildings. A sponsor unit in an older co-op usually escapes both the board approval and the financing minimum that would otherwise apply, which is why they are worth watching even when the building itself is a century old.

See Williamsburg new construction, or explore new developments in Manhattan and Queens. The whole Brooklyn condo market is a wider list.

• The Brooklyn Tower, a 2022 new-construction condominium in Downtown Brooklyn and the tallest building in the borough.
• One Domino Square, a 2022 condominium on the Williamsburg waterfront.
• Brooklyn Point, a 2019 condominium in Downtown Brooklyn.
• The Olympia, a 2022 condominium in DUMBO.
• Quay Tower, a 2019 condominium at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights.
• One Williamsburg Wharf, a 2024 condominium on the Williamsburg waterfront.

A new-development or sponsor unit is bought directly from the building's developer under its offering plan, and sponsor units typically do not require board approval. Closing costs differ from resale: buyers customarily pay the sponsor's New York State and New York City transfer taxes, plus the sponsor's attorney fee and the New York State mansion tax on purchases of $1 million and up.

That $1 million line does more work in Brooklyn than in Manhattan. A large share of the borough's new inventory asks within a few hundred thousand dollars of it, and the mansion tax applies to the whole price rather than to the amount above the threshold, so a contract at $1,000,000 rather than $999,000 costs an extra $10,000 in tax. Where the price is close, it is worth asking the sponsor to meet you below the line. Estimate a specific purchase with our new-development closing-cost calculator and mansion-tax calculator.

What are some new developments in Brooklyn?

Buildings with current availability include The Brooklyn Tower and Brooklyn Point in Downtown Brooklyn, One Williamsburg Wharf and One Domino Square on the Williamsburg waterfront, The Olympia in DUMBO and Quay Tower at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The grid above is the live list of every Brooklyn sponsor and new-construction residence we carry, so it moves as units sell and new lines release.

What are the biggest new development projects in Brooklyn?

The projects that dominate news coverage of Brooklyn development are largely rental and mixed-use, so a name in the headlines is not necessarily something you can buy. For-sale new construction is a smaller and different set, concentrated in Downtown Brooklyn, along the Williamsburg and DUMBO waterfront, and in a long tail of boutique condominium buildings in Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and Greenwood Heights. This page lists what is actually for sale.

Which Brooklyn neighborhoods have the most new construction?

Williamsburg carries the most listed inventory, with Bushwick and Downtown Brooklyn close behind. Stuyvesant Heights, Crown Heights, Greenpoint, Greenwood Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, DUMBO, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill follow. Bushwick sitting second is the part most people get wrong: it produces a steady run of small condominium buildings rather than towers, so it rarely appears in coverage of the borough.

How much do new condos cost in Brooklyn?

The median asking price across the 397 Brooklyn new-development and sponsor residences on this page is $1.27M, or $1,300 per square foot. Waterfront and Downtown Brooklyn tower product sets the top of the range, well into eight figures at The Brooklyn Tower, while boutique buildings in Bushwick, Kensington, Ditmas Park and Brighton Beach start under $600,000.

Does a new Brooklyn condo come with a tax abatement?

Many do, usually under the 421-a program or the replacement program that followed it, and the abatement is often what makes the monthly number work. It does not last, and it does not end all at once: most abatements step down over their final years, so the tax line in your carrying costs climbs on a published schedule. The projected budget inside the offering plan normally shows the abated figure. Ask for the year the phase-out begins and what the unabated tax would be at today's assessment, then run your numbers on that.

What is a sponsor unit?

A sponsor unit is bought from the developer or the original converter of the building under its offering plan, not from a previous resident. Brooklyn has a deep supply of these outside the new towers, because so much of the borough's older housing stock was converted to condominium or co-operative ownership and the original sponsor still holds apartments in those buildings. There is no seller's disclosure history, the offering plan is the contract, and the purchase usually skips board approval.

What are the closing costs on a Brooklyn new-development condo?

New-development buyers customarily pay costs a resale buyer does not: the New York State transfer tax of 0.4 percent, rising to 0.65 percent at $3 million and above, the New York City transfer tax of 1 percent, rising to 1.425 percent above $500,000, and the sponsor's attorney fee. The New York State mansion tax starts at $1 million. That line matters more in Brooklyn than in Manhattan, because a large share of the borough's new inventory asks within a few hundred thousand dollars of it. Our new-development closing-cost calculator and mansion-tax calculator price a specific purchase.

Is there a Buyer Commission Share on a Brooklyn new development?

Where the sponsor offers a buyer-side commission, we share part of it with you as a Buyer Commission Share, shown on each listing as your Estimated Buyer Savings and applied at closing. Register with us before you tour or contact a sales office. Most sponsors will not recognize a buyer's agent introduced after the first visit, and the share depends on that registration.