From left: EDC President Seth Pinsky and Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Now in its 20th year of existence, the city’s Economic Development Corp. has transcended simple real estate development and used its increased power to boost the New York City economy, according to Crain’s.

Initially formed to build structures for job creators and lure manufacturers to the city with tax incentives, the EDC has also begun to create new business incubators, training programs and venture funds for entrepreneurs. [more]

Seamless, which runs take-out and food delivery site Seamless.com, combines two industries that power New York City — take-out and technology. And the company has just opened a new headquarters in the Big Apple, overlooking Bryant Park at 1065 Sixth Avenue, according to a statement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, whose “digital roadmap” for the city, unveiled this May, urges an expansion of New York City’s technology sector.

The food ordering service, which facilitated over $400 million worth of food orders last year, will locate more than half of its total employees in its new 28,000-square-foot home at 40th Street, the statement said. [more]

The New York City Economic Development Corporation has issued a Request for Proposals seeking to award up to $8 million from the City Council Small Manufacturing Investment Fund to subsidize capital improvement costs for the subdivision and modernization of existing underutilized industrial spaces, EDC announced today.

“The city’s industrial sector, which, like the industrial sector nationally, has faced serious challenges in recent decades, now offers real opportunities for growth and development,” said EDC President Seth Pinsky.

The RFP, announced as part of three broader initiatives designed to support and strengthen the city’s industrial sector, is anticipated to help create modernized space for small industrial businesses, including manufacturers. – Katherine Clarke… [more]

From top: David Lebenstein, senior managing director of Cassidy Turley, Sharone Levy, executive managing director of Greiner-Maltz and the Brooklyn Army Terminal

The New York City Economic Development Corporation enlisted the services of commercial real estate brokerages Greiner-Maltz and Cassidy Turley Tuesday to lease the remaining 350,000 square feet of available space at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, EDC told The Real Deal today.

With a total of 3.1 million leasable square feet, the property is already 90 percent leased, with 70 businesses employing 2,400 people. Over the past two months, five new businesses have set up shop at the terminal, EDC said, signing on for a total of 85,000 square feet.

“In recent years, we have seen the Brooklyn Army Terminal become a premiere destination for companies in the city’s critical industrial sector looking for affordable workspace,” said EDC President Seth Pinsky in a statement. … [more]

NYC Economic Development Corp. President Seth Pinsky and the Brooklyn Army TerminalThanks to large industrial sites on the Brooklyn waterfront, in particular the Brooklyn Army Terminal and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the city’s Economic Development Corp. is making good on its effort to retain and expand New York’s industrial workforce. The Wall Street Journal reported that three new firms have signed leases at the Army Terminal, bringing the total count to 68 companies and 2,400 in the 90 percent-occupied, four million square-foot area.

“It’s an industrial landscape, which a lot of places in America have just given up on, but thanks to strategic investments by the city, unlike many of those other places, we’re actually bringing industrial uses back,” said Seth Pinsky, president of EDC…. [more]

New York City has issued an official request for proposals relating to Applied Sciences NYC, its initiative to build or expand a state-of-the-art engineering and applied sciences campus at one of three city sites, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Robert Steel and New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth Pinsky announced today.

“Our offer is straightforward,” Bloomberg said of the proposal, initially unveiled in December. “We will provide prime New York real estate — at virtually no cost, plus up to $100 million in infrastructure upgrades, in exchange for a university’s commitment to build or expand a world-class science and engineering campus here in our city.”

The city is offering real estate at three possible locations, he said — Governors Island, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Roosevelt Island. – Katherine Clarke… [more]

Brooklyn-based real estate development firm Two-Trees Management has provided a 6,440-square-foot space at a highly subsidized rate for a new city-sponsored business incubator to support the development of technology start-ups in Dumbo, the city said today. The incubator, located at 20 Jay Street — one block from Brooklyn Bridge Park — is designed to accommodate technology entrepreneurs in New York City over the next three years.

Seth Pinsky, president of New York City Economic Development Corp., announced the plan this morning during an Internet Week NY panel on the city’s “Digital Corridors.” EDC has provided a $250,000 grant for the incubator as part of a major Bloomberg administration effort to encourage entrepreneurship. TRD… [more]

EDC President Seth Pinsky and Federal Building  #2

New York City Economic Development Corporation and Representatives Nydia Velasquez and Congressman Jerrold Nadler have named Salmar Properties as the developer for Federal Building #2, a vacant 1.1 million-square-foot 1916 warehouse building in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn, previously used by the Department of the Navy and last occupied in 2000. Plans call for the building, in an area bound by Second and Third avenues and 30th and 32nd streets, to become a state-of-the-art industrial center in what Mayor Michael Bloomberg has dubbed the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone.

Salmar is owned 49.5 percent by Marvin Schein’s investment firm Schein Family Partners, 49.5 percent by Selim Rusi’s S. Rusi Family LLC. and 1 percent by an entity of which Schein and Rusi are 50 percent stakeholders. Salmar will have a deed restriction for 30 years, limiting most of the building to light industrial use. TRD… [more]

New York City Economic Development Corp. submitted a Request for Proposals for the first phase of development of Willets Point today, and wants developers’ submissions, due Aug. 12, to include a concept plan for the entire 62-acre area. In Phase 1, the city wants to turn the 12.7-acre parcel located next to Citi Field, into a mixed-use, green neighborhood that will bring some 4,600 construction jobs and 1,800 permanent jobs to the area. Phase 1 is slated to include 680,000 square feet of retail space, 400 housing units, 2 acres of open space and parking. TRD… [more]

The New York City Economic Development Corporation has begun accepting bids for the redevelopment of East Harlem’s Corn Exchange Building, a city landmark. The EDC said it’s aiming for a developer to either purchase or take out a ground lease on the building, which sits on 4,500 square feet and is zoned for residential or commercial use. The building, which sits on the corner of Park Avenue and 125th Street, was once six stories tall, but deteriorated due to decay and neglect. Early last year, the Department of Buildings ordered that the upper floors be removed due to safety concerns. TRD… [more]