Cayre’s Midtown Equities tapped to redevelop Empire Stores

Joseph and Jack Cayre’s Midtown Equities has been tapped to redevelop Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Empire Stores, beating out developers such as Two Trees Management and Jamestown Properties.

The 327,000-square-foot former coffee and dry goods warehouse is located between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and the city wants the space to become a new hub for technology companies and artisanal shops.

The city wants to lease the property for 99 years to help fund the maintenance of the 1.3-mile waterfront park in the area, in which it has already invested $350 million, according to the New York Daily News.

A spokeswoman for the park told the Daily News that negotiations are ongoing. Midtown, which beat out nine developers for the project, could not be reached for comment by the paper.

Midtown will be eyeing tech tenants willing to pay top dollar for space at the Empire Stores. Office rents are said to be asking $60 per square foot, compared with a neighborhood average of $34 a square foot, according to aptsandlofts.com data seen by the News. [NYDN]  – Hiten Samtani