New York’s effort to revive Brooklyn’s industrial sector took a major step forward this month with the completed renovation of a turn-of-the-century former shipping terminal that is looking for tenants in the manufacturing and design fields.
The New York City Economic Development Corp., known as NYCEDC, completed a $148 million renovation of 13 42nd Street at the MADE Bush Terminal campus in the Sunset Park neighborhood in western Brooklyn. Structural improvements made to the 5-story building include restoring the red-brick façade, installing new windows and a new interior layout designed for use by small manufacturers and individual artisans. The city is also restoring nearby Pier 6 for use as a public park.
The projects are part of a wider program led by New York City’s government to recreate an industrial district along Brooklyn’s New York Harbor shoreline and improve public access to the waterfront. It continues an earlier effort led by the private sector that created the adjacent Industry City district.
The MADE Bush Terminal facility "once had 35,000 people employed there, receiving goods from ocean vessels” during the early 20th century, Waverly Neer, vice president of asset management at NYCEDC, told CoStar News. “This facility was an economic provider for not just New York, but the whole country.”
Bush Terminal, as it was originally called, was used by the U.S. Navy during World War I and was later transferred to the private sector. After World War II, the shipping industry in New York Harbor shifted to ports in New Jersey and the Bush Terminal complex fell into disuse. Some buildings were demolished and others remained largely vacant for decades before the city acquired the properties.
NYCEDC changed its name for marketing purposes to MADE Bush Terminal — MADE stands for Manufacturers, Artisans, Designers and Entrepreneurs. The recently completed building has 140,000 square feet of industrial space and 30,000 square feet of event space. NYCEDC has not yet leased space in the property.
Pier 6, closed for decades, extends into the Bay Ridge Channel of New York Harbor. Architects and engineers are working to reinforce its foundation with the goal of converting it to a 5-acre public park.
“This is a waterfront that has been inaccessible for 40 years,” Neer said.
Other buildings
Construction is set to begin soon on other buildings in the MADE Bush Terminal complex, including a $98.7 million conversion of Building C. In addition, Steiner Studios previously announced it will invest $300 million to develop sound stages on a portion of the campus that spans 43rd Street to 50th Street between 1st Avenue and Bush Terminal Park.
Next to MADE Bush Terminal, the previously restored, two-building Brooklyn Army Terminal complex is almost fully leased with dozens of tenants ranging from food producers, healthcare providers and design studios. Construction is expected to begin soon on an expansion of Building B at the Brooklyn Army Terminal campus for a 112,000-square foot addition to house startup companies that focus on technologies and business services related to climate change.
NYCEDC also plans to upgrade public plazas within Brooklyn Army Terminal’s campus “to reintroduce the community to this asset and to discuss with the community how to program these public spaces,” Hazel Balaban, vice president of asset management, told CoStar News.
The MADE Bush Terminal and Brooklyn Army Terminal sites have multiple public-transit options for the expected increase in commuters to the area, including four New York City Subway lines and a NYC Ferry line that serves both commuters and tourists.
The development activity around MADE Bush Terminal and the Brooklyn Army Terminal follows an earlier, private sector effort that created Industry City, adjacent to MADE Bush Terminal and the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Jamestown, Belvedere Capital and Angelo Gordon & Co. are among the investors that have provided financing to Industry City.
Work is also underway at another waterfront site in Brooklyn for an industrial project. The Empire offshore wind-power project, developed by Norwegian energy company Equinor, includes construction of a control and operations center at the former South Brooklyn Marine Terminal site, along with staging grounds for the construction of wind turbines. That project, also backed by NYCEDC, is a half-mile northeast of the MADE Bush Terminal complex.
For the record
Jeb Bellsey and Bridget Chansakul at the New York City Economic Development Corp. are leasing agents for MADE Bush Terminal. Perkins Eastman and nArchitects are design architects. Arcadis is the construction manager and Scape is the landscape architect for the restoration of Pier 6.