A Unique Mall

The Williamsburg Square Mall in Brooklyn has been slowly opening this month. It’s aimed at an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism, and that makes it perhaps the only religiously themed higher-end mall in the United States. Speaking of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a major Manhattan office owner plans more forays into the neighborhood.

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— Tom Acitelli, Deputy Editor

Brooklyn’s New Williamsburg Square Mall Might Be Unique in the U.S.

In the morning after Yom Kippur, curious shoppers trickled into a gleaming new shopping center abutting the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on the edge of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg and Clinton Hill neighborhoods. The Williamsburg Square Mall won’t officially open until the end of October, according to its staff, but that hasn’t stopped many neighborhood residents, members of an ultra-Orthodox, Yiddish-speaking sect of Hasidic Jews known as the Satmar, from exploring its offerings during its soft opening. “It’s a place for the community to have a good experience,” said Yerucham Sakowitz, a manager at the mall. “Everything is very high quality. The stores are not too pricey, but they’re definitely more than H&M. You get what you pay for.”

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ESRT Plans Even More Williamsburg Deals After Busy Q3

Empire State Realty Trust is looking to buy even more retail buildings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, next year after already acquiring $195 million worth of properties in the neighborhood. So far, the real estate investment trust has closed on $143 million of the $195 million acquisition of prime retail spaces along North Sixth Street in Williamsburg, where tenants such as Google, Warby Parker, The North Face and Nike have set up shop, as Commercial Observer previously reported. The assets comprise approximately 81,000 square feet of retail space on the popular street, and the balance of the purchases is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year, according to the company’s new third-quarter earnings report.

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