$185 million transformation of World War II-era storage facility will be home to 3,000 jobs
Mayor Bill de Blasio celebrated the opening of the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Building 77, a one-million-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing building and the largest on the 300-acre industrial campus.
The $185 million renovation of the World War II-era storage facility is a milestone for the growth of manufacturing in New York City and the de Blasio administration’s push to build 100,000 good-paying jobs across a range of industries. Located within the City-owned Brooklyn Navy Yard at the corner of Vanderbilt and Flushing Avenues, the 16-story building will be home to more than 3,000 jobs.
Building 77 is the centerpiece of a billion-dollar investment currently underway at the Yard to add over two million square feet of space and 10,000 good-paying jobs by 2020.
“As a major driver of quality middle-class jobs, investing in and expanding manufacturing space is key to growing and diversifying our economy and boosting wages. As we re-open this historic building we re-imagine New York’s future,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Long a symbol of America’s industrial might, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is among the country’s leading urban manufacturing centers, with some 400 companies currently employing more than 7,000 New Yorkers. In the next three years, that number is expected to more than double to 17,000 accessible middle-class jobs.
Images of Building 77 can be found here.
The Mayor’s New York Works plan to create 100,000 good-paying jobs in 10 years is squarely focused on industrial and manufacturing jobs: Twenty thousand of the total jobs, or one fifth, are in the industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Building 77, the largest in the Navy Yard, includes a 60,000-square-foot ground-floor Food Manufacturing Hub that will serve as a public gateway to the Yard, as well as the central gathering point for Navy Yard businesses, employees and guests.
Built in 1942 as part of the U.S. Navy’s wartime mobilization, the huge concrete building had been a storage facility with fewer than 100 jobs and no windows on its first 11 floors. More than three million pounds of concrete have been removed and replaced with 50,000 square feet of windows as one component of the upgrade.
The project is financed through a combination of BNYDC investment, $73.1 million of Mayoral City Capital and $7.1 million from the City Council and Brooklyn Borough President.
“Let there be no doubt that in cities across America both existing manufacturing firms and new enterprises need modern space to thrive,” said Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development. “Industrial jobs are a springboard for social mobility for many New Yorkers, in particular those without advanced educational degrees.”
“The Brooklyn Navy Yard has been a center of innovation, growth and opportunity for New York City for more than 200 years, and Building 77 represents an incredible continuation of that tradition,” said Brooklyn Navy Yard president and CEO David Ehrenberg. “Building 77 will contribute tremendously to our mission of creating accessible middle-class jobs and securing a vibrant future for manufacturing in Brooklyn. We are grateful to Mayor de Blasio and his team for their unflagging commitment to this bold project and look forward to building on this national model for urban manufacturing we have created together.”
“The opening of Building 77 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a watershed moment that symbolizes the remarkable strength of New York City’s manufacturing sector and the businesses that are driving its growth,” said Hank Gutman, chairman of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “Thanks to the leadership of Mayor de Blasio and BNYDC President David Ehrenberg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard today remains a wellspring of both innovation and inspiration more than two centuries after it first opened.”
“The NYCHA community’s entrepreneurial skills, and delicious food businesses will be on full display in the new Brooklyn Navy Yard,” said Sideya Sherman, executive vice president for community engagement and partnerships at NYCHA, which is partnering with BNYDC to create the first permanent retail opportunity for participants of its Food Business Pathways program, as part of the ground-floor Food Manufacturing Hub. “Created as part of the NextGen NYCHA strategic plan, Food Business Pathways is a proven business program for residents to enter and succeed in the food industry. Now, through this exciting partnership, NYCHA residents will run a food kiosk in the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s new building 77, creating new opportunities for public housing residents’ small businesses to thrive.”
“EDA’s investment of $2M in floors 6 & 7 of Building 77 supports the critical need for space to accommodate new and expanding manufacturers and start-up companies creating approximately 400 jobs to benefit the region,” said Linda Cruz-Carnall, Economic Development Administration Regional Director.
“Empire State Development is proud to support Building 77 and the creation of state-of-the-art, modern manufacturing spaces for New York’s industrial firms,” said ESD President, CEO, and Commissioner Howard Zemsky. “These industries spur innovation, opportunity and jobs for New Yorkers across all skill levels and today’s opening will build on Brooklyn’s strength as a manufacturing hub both for New York City and across the state.”
“Today is truly a milestone in the reactivation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a center of 21st century industrial jobs,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “The City Council is proud to have contributed to the transformation of Building 77 from an empty windowless warehouse to a thriving center for hundreds of businesses and 3,000 new jobs. The Brooklyn Navy Yard continues to be a great success story for New York’s manufacturing and industrial sector, which provides good middle-class jobs and helps support our growing economy.”
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