The new Brooklyn Navy Yard COO is a former NYCHA exec

Michael Kelly will oversee the site’s operations and its property management team

Michael Kelly and a rendering of the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Michael Kelly and a rendering of the Brooklyn Navy Yard

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has tapped former New York City Housing Authority general manager Michael Kelly to be its new chief operating officer.

Kelly, an architect, will oversee operations at the Navy Yard, as well as its property management team, as it goes through an aggressive $2.5 billion expansion plan, adding 5 million square feet of manufacturing space and up to 30,000 jobs. This represents the industrial park’s largest expansion since World War II.

The nonprofit is self-funding the expansion with revenue from the site, instead of relying on private developers as it had previously.

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Kelly started his career in 1983 as an architect for the San Francisco Housing Authority. Since then, he has also worked as executive director of the New Orleans, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia Housing Authorities, and he has twice been General Manager of the New York City Housing Authority.

The new Brooklyn Navy Yard COO resigned from his position at NYCHA in January following a scandal in which the agency failed to inspect thousands of apartments for laid paint for years but falsely claimed it had.

Tenants at the Brooklyn Navy Yard include Artopia, Brooklyn Roasting Company and Honeybee Robotics.