Hide the bong and hold the Doritos. Jamestown is scrapping plans to build college dormitories at its massive Industry City office complex in Sunset Park.
Jamestown and its partners at the 6 million-square-foot Industry City are finalizing plans to rezone the 32-acre Brooklyn waterfront site to enable the development of retail space and two hotels. That proposal previously would have included a dorm spanning up to 150,000 square feet.
But the group has since backed away from plans for student housing, according to Crain’s, after receiving concerns from community representatives including City Council member Carlos Menchaca over allowing residential space at the 16-building redevelopment.
The dorms could have housed students from academic institutions like New York University and the City University of New York. NYU and CUNY have considered taking space at Industry City for educational facilities focused on manufacturing and engineering – right in line with the kinds of tenants attracted to the office and light manufacturing complex.
An inclusion of hotel and retail space at Industry City[TRData] is crucial to the complex, according to Jamestown and its partners – including Angelo Gordon & Co., Belvedere Capital and Cammeby’s International — due to the need for amenities serving the redevelopment’s tenants as well as additional revenue to help pay their $1 billion investment in the site. [Crain’s] – Rey Mashayekhi