Industry City kicks off rezoning process for 30-acre Sunset Park site

UPDATED, March 4, 1:15 p.m.: The owners of Industry City have filed their long-awaited application to rezone the 30-acre complex in Sunset Park, kicking off the city’s months-long land-use review process.

Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball filed the company’s 135-page application with the Department of City Planning late last month, seeking in part to allow for 1.45 million square feet of new construction at the site.

“The proposed actions are needed because the project area’s current zoning does not provide for the range of uses and flexibility for locating new development necessary to support the re-tenanting and development of the Industry City ‘Innovation Economy District,’” the application reads.

Industry’s City’s proposal looks to remove restrictions on the kinds of retail and office tenants that can lease space at the complex. It would also allow the owner – a partnership between Jamestown, Belvedere Capital, Cammeby’s International and Angelo, Gordon & Co. – to increase its size from a little more than 5.2 million square feet to roughly 6.5 million square feet.

New development would include a pair of hotels with a combined 420 room targeted toward business-oriented travelers with amenities like meeting facilities.

While Industry City has successfully drawn tenants to the project, roughly half of the space is either vacant or occupied by storage and warehousing.

Jamestown, Belvedere and Angelo, Gordon bought a stake in Industry City – formerly known as Bush Terminal – in 2013, and two years later announced a plan to invest close to $1 billion in upgrading the campus over 12 years.

Now that Industry City has filed its application, it will have to go through the city’s complicated Uniform Land Use Review Process, which can take up to a year or longer.

Once the City Planning department certifies the application, it will go to the local community board, borough president’s office and City Planning Commission for review. If the Planning Commission approves the application, it will go for a vote before the City Council, which generally defers to the local council member.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of hotel rooms the developers of Industry City plan to build through the rezoning. The number is 420 rooms.