Report: Brooklyn Awash in New Retail

There's a lot of new shops in the Borough of Kings. Developers are expected to add 500,000 square feet of retail space to Brooklyn in 2007, according to a report from investment-sales firm Marcus & Millichap. That's way more than the 33,000 feet added in 2006.

Other highlights from the report:

• Employers in Brooklyn are expected to add 5,700 jobs by year’s end, a 1.2 percent gain and an increase from 4,600 new hires in 2006.
• Retail vacancy is forecast to end the year at 5.3 percent.
• Average marketwide rents are expected to climb 8 percent this year to $37.80 per square foot, although properties in some emerging neighborhoods could post double-digit gains.