Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens—three adjacent neighborhoods in Brooklyn—used to be known just by their actual names. Then real estate developers began referring to the area as BoCoCa as a marketing tool for selling new condos to Manhattanites in search of more space for less money. But now, the area southwest of downtown Brooklyn has a new moniker—“Little France,” or “Little Paris,” depending on whom you’re speaking to.
The emergence of several dual-language public schools in the area, followed by French shops and restaurants such as Provence en Boite and Bien Cuit, have over the past few years attracted quite the community of French nationals who have taken up residence in the neighborhood. The number of French vacationers visiting Brooklyn is also on the rise.
While it is true that French-speaking expats in New York City—thought to total around 180,000, when including patois and cajun—live all over, Brooklyn has a particularly large enclave, with around 3,000 French families estimated to be living in Carroll Gardens alone, according to the French Embassy.
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As a result, one of the biggest Bastille Day celebrations outside France was held on restaurant-filled Smith Street in Boerum Hill. The organizer even took the extra step of covering the street with sand so revelers could enjoy playing pétanque, a classic French game.
Bastille Day celebrations in Boerum Hill.
Bar TabacEric Heras, a broker at Corcoran who specializes in selling Brooklyn brownstones and whose wife is a teacher at Public School 58, believes the area’s popularity is firmly rooted in its schools.
“Everybody used to want to transfer to P.S. 29, and then this dual language program started and just keeps getting more popular,” he said.
French buyers discover life outside Manhattan
Now, it seems that wealthier French families are beginning to jump on the bandwagon— agents report that even French finance industry employees, who have long favored Manhattan, are starting to slowly trickle through to these neighborhoods.
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“We’re seeing the most demand from French buyers in Carroll Gardens because you have the most amazing French program at the International School of Brooklyn, as well as all the great French restaurants such as Chez Moi on Atlantic Avenue,” said Greg McHale, a real estate agent at Compass. “You can’t go to the park without hearing at least three or four conversations in French.”
Many of his French clients want brownstones in the $3 million to $4 million range, but developers of new condominium buildings with good amenities in neighboring Boerum Hill have also seen an increase in inquiries from French buyers.
A French family just purchased a property at The Nevins, a 21-story building being developed in Boerum Hill by Adam America and the Naveh Shuster Group that will have 73 residences, and where a two-bedroom property will set you back $1.15 million. Amenities will include a 24-hour attended lobby, rooftop terrace, fitness room and children’s playroom.
Tamir Shemesh, a Corcoran broker who is handling sales for the building, said: “We have definitely seen interest from French buyers, and one family in particular ... is moving from Manhattan because they love the neighborhood.”
Blake Dinour, a sales agent at The Hendrik, a new upmarket development in Boerum Hill, said she believes the area has become more family-friendly in recent years. The condo’s 33 units range from $1.75 million for a two-bedroom to $2.9 million for a four-bedroom—and more than half will have private outdoor spaces of as much as 1,140 square feet. Ms. Dinour said she believes the large apartments are attracting families who would normally go for a townhouse, but want amenities. A number of the prospective buyers have been French.
But it’s not just BoCoCa
Williamsburg in Brooklyn, is also an attractive option, especially for Parisians, according to Jacques Cohen, an agent at Compass, who just closed on a sale with a French couple. They live in Paris and recently sold their pied-a-terre in Long Island City, Queens, to buy the Williamsburg home, which they plan to use as their primary residence when they move to the U.S. in the near future.
“Instead of taking profits from the most recent sale and putting it into Manhattan, they bought it in Williamsburg. It really attracts the French,” Mr. Cohen said. “The St. Germain neighborhood in Paris is known for its hipster culture, which is similar to Williamsburg.”
French buyers are snapping up properties in other parts of Brooklyn as well. Mr. McHale told Mansion Global that he recently oversaw the sale of a property in Clinton Hill to a French family so they could be closer to their son's school, which has a great French-language program. Another French couple he worked with just bought a pied-a-terre in downtown Brooklyn.