New Development Drives Empty Storefronts On Bed-Stuy's Fulton St

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Walking down Bed-Stuy's Fulton Street, it doesn't take long to encounter a "for rent" sign in the window.

Like many commercial hubs throughout the city, empty storefronts line the corridor at a much higher rate than they did before the coronavirus crisis took hold of New York City's economy.

But unlike many of the city's main streets, the pandemic isn't behind Fulton's vacancy spike — at least not in the way you might expect.

"Some was [because of the pandemic], but we also have this new construction finishing," said Lynette Battle, interim executive director of the corridor's Business Improvement District. "Construction is ending so we have new spaces that count as a vacancy...It's spread out along the whole commercial corridor."

Battle says a slew of new development projects along Fulton that wrapped up while most New Yorkers were stuck inside is the main driver of a five-to-10 percent spike in the vacancy rate on the dozen or so blocks the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID oversees.

The vacancy rate, which typically stands between 15 and 20 percent, is now at 25 percent, she said.

Vacancies Loom, Business Booms

Because of the construction factor, Battle said the higher-than-normal rate shouldn't be seen as a sign of a deteriorating business climate on the corridor. In fact, Fulton Street is one of several areas benefitting from a post-pandemic surge of new businesses, she said.

"I have so many grand openings at this time," Battle said. "As one business closes, a new one opens."

The rapid turnover and new construction has been so fast-moving that the BID hasn't been able to keep a running list of where on the corridor the vacancies lie.

In a walk between Gates Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, Patch found 16 storefronts that had "for rent" or equivalent signs in the window and another 10 that seemed to be vacant but didn't have a sign saying so.

Meanwhile, grand openings in recent months in and around corridor have included a burger joint, açaí bowl chain and a new flower shop.

The rapid influx of businesses isn't unique to Bed-Stuy, either, according to Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Randy Peers.

Despite ongoing vacancy problems in some parts of the borough, there is also a "new wave of entrepreneurship" bringing new businesses to Brooklyn's neighborhoods, particularly in gentrifying areas like North Brooklyn.

"There are definitely a lot of advantages to opening up a business now," Peers said, adding that real estate and entry costs are lower.

That trend is particularly true for food establishments, including in Bed-Stuy. Many of the new businesses coming to the Fulton Street area have been restaurants, changing the landscape on the once-limited food scene.

"If you ask [new owners] they say they saw a need," Battle said. "We used to be considered a food desert."

That isn't to say there haven't been challenges, though, Battle said.

In addition to lower entry costs, new business owners also encounter logistical challenges like a backlogged liquor license authority and a virtual application process, she said.

The influx of eateries also comes as another industry, hair and beauty, declines on the corridor. The financial strain of the coronavirus crisis has meant many of the businesses that have closed on Fulton over the past year have been once-ubiquitous hair or beauty businesses.

Years In The Making

Though perhaps viewed differently in light of the pandemic, the surge of new development, and thus new retail space, has been on the BID's radar well before the coronavirus crisis.

A 2018 report by the BID noted that new businesses were likely as an estimated 1,100 new residential units would be added to the corridor by 2020.

Most of the new construction are on properties that were once only residential and are now home to larger mixed-used buildings with retail on the ground floor, Battle said.

Hotspots for the new development include near Franklin, Kingston, Albany and Troy avenues.

The Power of the BID

Even with the development boom, though, Fulton Street's vacancy rate is still one of the lowest in Bed-Stuy.

In a recent study of the neighorhood's six commercial corridors, Fulton Street's 25 percent vacancy rate was nearly half that of main streets like Dekalb Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard. Only Tompkins Avenue, where 24 percent of storefronts are vacant, had a lower rate than Fulton.

The study found that the vacancy rates were lowest where there was a Business Improvement District or similar organization to help support local businesses.

Experts say the same is true in terms of where businesses were most likely to survive the coronavirus crisis.

"Commercial corridors that had a BID or merchant association...were in a much better position to survive the crisis than if they didn’t," Peers said.

Businesses on streets that took advantage of the city's Open Streets program were also more likely to pull through, Peers added.

On Fulton Street, a stretch was closed to traffic for months for events hosted on the Black Lives Matter mural, though the extent that it helped businesses on the corridor itself has been debated.

Even with the boosts, and incoming relief packages for small businesses, Peers noted that New Yorkers can always take helping local businesses into their own hands.

"They can do their part too by shopping locally— get out, get vaccinated and support their local businesses," Peers said. "We can all be part of that solution."