By Keith Larsen –

There are few prestigious office corridors in Brooklyn and Queens. There is no Wall Street or Plaza District or Hudson Yards. There is no One Vanderbilt.

But office buildings still exist in the outer boroughs, where landlords positioning their properties as alternatives to the high-priced space across the river are finding that some companies actually want to be there.

In Brooklyn, year-to-date leasing volume in the third quarter rose to close to 1 million square feet, up 40.6 percent from last year. In Long Island City, Queens, the office availability rate fell for the fifth straight quarter to 23.2 percent, down from 28.6 percent a year prior.

These were the five largest office leases by square footage signed this year in Queens and Brooklyn, according to analysis by The Real Deal:

SCA | 350,000 square feet
The year’s largest lease was signed by The New York City School Construction Authority, which took a whopping 350,000 square feet at Savanna’s 1 Court Square, Queens’ tallest office building. The city agency inked a 20-year lease to relocate its headquarters to 11 of the tower’s 50 floors, moving from 30-30 Thomson Avenue in Long Island City. SCA, who plans to occupy floors 6 through 17, is in charge of overseeing the design and construction of public schools throughout the city.

Care/of | 79,000 square feet
Care/of, a vitamin and wellness brand, is leasing 79,000 square feet at Madison Capital’s Liberty Bklyn, a 1.3 million-square-foot industrial and office development in Sunset Park. With the move, Care/of consolidated previous locations in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Manhattan. James Ferrigno of JLL represented the Care/of, while Liberty Bklyn was represented by David Junik, Mark Caso of Pinnacle Realty.

Vice | 77,700 square feet
Vice Media bailed on plans to move to the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Dock 72, opting to stay put at its office in Williamsburg. The company signed a four-year, 77,700-square-foot renewal at Web Holdings’ 289 Kent Avenue. Lee NYC’s Alan Friedman and Garry Steinberg represented the landlord, while Savills’ Erik Schmall and Allyson Bowen represented Vice.

Standard Motor | 75,000 square feet

Auto parts manufacturer Standard Motor Products renewed the lease on its 75,000-square-foot headquarters in Long Island City, signing on for 10 more years at RXR’s 37-18 Northern Boulevard. RXR’s William Elder and Andrew Ackerman represented the landlord internally. William Korchak and Jim McCahon of JLL represented Standard Motor.

Huge | 71,000 square feet

Marketing and design firm Huge inked a huge lease at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, taking 71,000 square feet on a 12-year deal. at Dock 72. Huge, which is moving from 45 Main Street in Dumbo, is just the third tenant to come to the Rudin Management and Boston Properties building since it opened in 2019. A team at CBRE led by Cara Chayet and David Hollander represented the tenant. The landlord was represented by a CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield team led by Joe Cirone and Ron Lo Russo.