Din Tai Fung, the renowned Taiwanese dumpling chain, has signed a lease to open its first Brooklyn location at 567 Fulton Street, according to a report by Commercial Observer. The restaurant will occupy 20,000 square feet of ground-floor space at The Brook and is scheduled to open in 2027.
The property is owned by Witkoff and Apollo Global Management. The terms of the lease, including its length and the asking rent, were not disclosed. However, retail rents in Downtown Brooklyn averaged between $115 and $190 per square foot during the first half of the year, based on data from the Real Estate Board of New York.
Chris DeCrosta of GoodSpace represented the property ownership in the lease agreement, while Ben Birnbaum from Newmark represented Din Tai Fung.
Din Tai Fung is recognized for its soup dumplings and noodles, with over 180 locations worldwide. The business started in 1958 as a cooking oil company founded by a Chinese refugee before becoming a restaurant in 1972. In 1993, The New York Times named it one of the top 10 gourmet spots globally. Its Hong Kong branch received a Michelin Star in 2010, marking the first time a Taiwanese restaurant received this honor.
In 2022, Din Tai Fung leased space at 1633 Broadway in Manhattan for its first East Coast location.
The development at 567 Fulton Street includes a 51-story tower with 591 residential units and over 30,000 square feet of retail space across two sites. The building was financed with a $388.4 million loan secured by Witkoff and Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in summer 2022. The site was previously assembled by RedSky Capital and JZ Capital starting in 2012. In 2019, JZ Capital announced a significant write-down in its portfolio value. The project’s $154.6 million loan from Apollo defaulted a few months later, after which Witkoff became a development partner in November 2020. The tower was completed in May.
