Why Brooklyn Developers Are Building Smaller

Brooklyn’s new development pipeline is shrinking in more ways than one.

Across New York City, new condo inventory has been on the decline, with costs for land, building and borrowing rising, as well as a limited number of sites available. Brooklyn is no exception — between 2026 and 2029, 30 percent fewer condos will hit the market on an annual average compared to the previous decade.

Developers are also increasingly turning to projects with fewer units for many of the same reasons holding them back from developing at all.

That trend is evident in Brooklyn, where so far in 2026, developers have filed plans for just one project with 50 or more units, compared to 5 in 2025, 12 in 2021 and 30 in 2018, according to data from Marketproof. In 2026, 71 percent of new condo offering plans were for buildings with fewer than 10 units.

In Brooklyn, the popularity of boutique condo projects is partially because those are the sites available. Naftali Group and Two Trees have already transformed the Williamsburg waterfront, while much of the development in Downtown Brooklyn is already well underway.

Outside of those areas, few of the borough’s prime neighborhoods — particularly parts of Brownstone Brooklyn — are designed for the high-rise buildings that can accommodate a large number of units, and finding a big enough assemblage to add units without height can also be a challenge, according to Omri Bar-Mashiah, the co-founder of Minerva.

“Plenty of these neighborhoods have been marked for historic preservation,” said Bar-Mashiah, whose firm has a portfolio of boutique projects across neighborhoods such as Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, among others. “It’s difficult to put together assemblages for larger properties, even if they were allowed.”

On the buyer side, purchasing a unit in a smaller project typically comes with lower monthly maintenance costs, as taxes are lower and buyers aren’t paying for stacked amenity spaces. But it’s not just practicality driving buyers to the property type.

“Larger developments aren’t on those quintessential Brooklyn blocks,” said Douglas Elliman’s Nadia Bartolucci, who leads the Bartolucci Team. At smaller projects, “you’re more likely to find yourself immersed in the neighborhood and community.”

“Buyers want to be a part of the community,” she said. “They want everything outside their door.”

Not so fast…

For years, New York City agents have said that co-ops have been loosening their notoriously stringent rules for buyers. But earlier this week, one seller at a Park Avenue co-op dialed them up.

On Thursday, Compass’ Rachel Glazer posted on Instagram that before viewing the apartment, the seller requested that her client, a prospective buyer, submit documents showing liquid assets exceeding three times the purchase price and a bio.

“Never in my entire life have I seen this,” Glazer said, adding that she has submitted buyer bios before but never financials.

Glazer said the building was known for being tough to get into, but the apartment itself, asking $11 million, “wasn’t even such an expensive apartment” for her “nine-figure buyer.”

“It’s not one of the ones you’re going to read about,” she said.

However, Glazer added that she did understand the seller’s desire to limit access to the home to serious, qualified buyers.

“We have tons of looky-loos in our business, and that’s annoying,” Glazer said. “I have a feeling that the seller probably had a bad experience before.”

Glazer’s buyer said no to submitting the information. But after posting about it on Instagram, Glazer heard back from the seller: her buyer will be able to see the apartment without the extra paperwork.

NYC Deal of the Week

The priciest deal to hit the city rolls this week was for a townhouse on the Upper East Side, which sold for $13 million. The property at 111 East 81st Street, which last traded for $13.3 million in 2022, hit the market in May asking $15 million.

The home spans 6,500 square feet and has five bedrooms and four bathrooms. It also features an elevator, gym and roof terrace.