NYC manufacturers face space drought

The Brooklyn Army Terminal
The Brooklyn Army Terminal

The city’s manufacturing community is increasingly getting pushed out amid rising demand for space, despite major redevelopment efforts at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The Navy Yard is home to 330 companies where 6,000 people work, but its immense popularity has meant a long waiting list that has driven manufacturers to seek space elsewhere. Another popular project is the 4 million-square-foot Brooklyn Army Terminal, where the city has invested $165 million since 1981 on rehabilitation. But that space is now 99 percent full.

The next obvious manufacturing hub is the large complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn known as Bush Terminal/Industry City. Chelsea Market owner Jamestown Properties is on the brink of acquiring a stake in the complex along with Rubin Schron and the Fruchthandler family, according to Crain’s.

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Despite these developments, employment in the manufacturing sector has dropped 58 percent in New York since 2000, compared with a 30 percent drop nationally, according to Crain’s. In January, about 73,000 people worked in manufacturing in New York City, but back during the sector’s peak, the Navy Yard alone accounted for about that many employees, Crain’s said. [Crain’s]  – Hiten Samtani