It's the Acronym, DUMBO!

Amazing. If there ever were lessons to take away from the effects of acronyms on NYC real estate values, we know from SoHo, NoHo, TriBeCa, NoLIta, etc., that cute acronyms are like catnip to luxury apartment developers. But a cute acronym, plus the evocation of the lovable misfit of a baby elephant that most New Yorkers—secretly—fancy themselves to be, plus industrial-strength industrial chic, and you’ve got yourself a veritable NYC real estate black hole that not even ennui that comes with gentrification can emerge from!

So why on earth did the artistic types who moved into the inexpensive industrial spaces on Brooklyn’s Fulton Landing actually believe that they could camouflage their wedge-shaped neighborhood between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges from developers by calling it DUMBO [Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass]?!

But to be fair, the New York Post reports that even before DUMBO was coined as a defensive measure in 1978, developers David and Jed Walentas—the father-and-son team who run Two Tree Management—had been quietly buying up property in the Brooklyn neighborhood since the early 1970s. To this day, the Walentas own and/or control more than half of DUMBO. And just as the creator of the original Dumbo was rumored to not have been entirely evil, many of the changes made or facilitated by the Walentas have also brought joy—at a price.

In the last decade, Brooklyn Bridge Park has replaced a chain-linked truck lot with snarling junkyard dogs, industrial/Gothic warehouses and factories have been preserved through luxury apartment and condo conversions, the neighborhood has been declared a historical district ensuring the integrity of it’s industrial chic for generations to come, and the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) reports the average price per square foot in DUMBO is now the most expensive in Brooklyn, at $917, having risen 25% between the second quarters of 2007 and 2008.

DUMBO rents are also some of the most expensive any NYC apartment. According to a representative from Two Trees, the very least expensive one-bedroom apartments rent for $2800. per month and the most expensive three-bedrooms go for $8000.

Why so expensive? According to the New York Post, just like the lovable Disney character, DUMBO is cute:

Visiting the area is like stepping back in time. Sections of obsolete train track, which once carted raw materials from the water inland, push up through narrow cobblestone streets. Looming brick warehouses give way to views of the Brooklyn Bridge. And, whether you're at DUMBO's waterfront parks or just peering out a window, Manhattan plays backdrop to it all - stretched out just beyond the water, so close and yet totally removed.

Like Dumbo, DUMBO is hip:

As happening as DUMBO is, it can also be completely unassuming. Its restaurants and boutiques don't scream out to be noticed, but instead sit on nearly vacant blocks patiently awaiting those in the know.

Like Dumbo, DUMBO is the product of calculating, imperialist genius:

But DUMBO, with its industrial aesthetic and low-key lifestyle, didn't evolve naturally. It was carefully planned. [...] David Walentas began investing in the neighborhood in the '70s; he opened 1 Main, the area's first major residential conversion, in 1998. Since then, Two Trees has slowly continued to convert historic buildings into residences, ever careful to preserve their character.

And, like Dumbo, DUMBO’s creators discriminate:

And though DUMBO has gourmet-food shops and a mom-and-pop drugstore, there isn't a Key Food or Duane Reade in sight. [...] [T] he Walentas family is extremely picky about tenants, preferring to give preferential rent to mom-and-pop shops and local chefs than to fill spaces with big-box stores and chain restaurants. It isn't uncommon for them to give a local storefront to a working artist (rent-free) until a suitable tenant shows up.

Uncanny.