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City agency on the hunt for 250K sf space in East New York
Potential move by Human Resources Administration is meant to help boost development in the neighborhood
The city’s Human Resources Administration is planning a move to East New York in an attempt to give commercial development in the neighborhood a boost.
Economic Development Corporation CEO and President James Patchett said on Wednesday that the agency will rent 250,000 square feet of space in East New York as long as a developer responds to EDC’s request for proposals, which it will release this summer, according to Crain’s. The HRA recently signed a lease for just under 200,000 square feet at 375 Pearl Street in Manhattan.
The move is meant to test the strategy of moving city agencies into the outer boroughs to increase development. Patchett said that rather than using office space in neighborhoods that are already popular, city agencies could serve as anchor tenants in neighborhoods where developers have a much harder time finding credit-worthy anchor tenants. The move could free up additional prime office space for the private sector while saving the city on rent.
Patchett said the city is also looking at Flushing, Jamaica and Harlem as targets for commercial development.[Crain’s]–Eddie Small