Fashion incubator priced out of Brooklyn lands in Manhattan

From left: 23 West 36th Street and a sewing needle
From left: 23 West 36th Street and a sewing needle

Lofty prices have pushed a Brooklyn fashion networking company away from its home base and into Manhattan.

Manufacture NY, a program that gives budding designers access to industrial sewing machines and design software, conducted an exhaustive search for a budget-friendly spot in Brooklyn before finally giving up and settling on a space in Manhattan’s Garment District. The new 2,000-square-foot digs at 23 West 36th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, is just over $2,500 per month. By comparison, the spots Bland checked out in Boerum Hill and Prospect Heights clocked in at between $3,000 and $5,000 per month for a 1,200-square-foot retail space, founder Bob Bland told DNAinfo.

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“We are committed to Brooklyn, but it’s quite expensive,” Bland told DNAinfo. “We’re not saying prices are out of control in Brooklyn, but maybe they are.”

The move, however, is only temporary. Manufacture NY is in the process of developing a 160,000-square-foot headquarters in Liberty View Industrial Plaza, located in Sunset Park. The finished space will include studios, a showroom and a factory. Until the incubator secures funding, which Bland told DNAinfo will hopefully come from the city and other outside sources, they will remain in the Midtown outpost. [DNAinfo]Julie Strickland