Apparel company Lafayette 148 is grabbing even more space at BK Navy Yard

Fashion company Lafayette 148 took another 28,000 square feet of office space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, bringing its total footprint at the complex to 100,000 square feet.

Asking rents at the Navy Yard’s Building 77, where Lafayette 148 committed to taking 68,000 square feet last year, start in the $20s per square foot, according to Crain’s.

“Our sales might be up double-digits this year and our company needs more room to grow,” company co-founder Deirdre Quinn said. “Everything is growing for us right now, not just one area.”

The company is relocating from the increasingly expensive Soho market and had considered moving to Sunset Park, but decided it was too far.

“The Navy Yard is just close enough,” Quinn added. “It’s a big decision but I’m excited about it.”

The company will keep a single floor at Its Namesake 148 Lafayette Street, where it operates a retail store.

The Navy Yard’s Building 77 is about 80 percent leased. The 1 million-square-foot building kicked off a renovation project more than a year ago to replace its concrete walls with windows.

“Building 77 is one of the most visible elements of the yard but it looked like a bunker and a bunker doesn’t create jobs,” Navy Yard president David Ehrenberg said. “The project was done to maximize the potential for the building but also strengthen all the things that are going on around it.” [Crain’s] – Rich Bockmann