NYU leases 45K sf at Industry City  

New York University is setting up shop — complete with a nod to a legendary director — with a film production facility in Brooklyn’s Industry City complex.

NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts signed a long-term lease at the waterfront campus in Sunset Park for 45,000 square feet in Building 8, the Commercial Observer reported. Asking rent and brokers on the deal were not reported. 

The Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center will include two 3,500-square-foot stages, two 1,800-square-foot television studios, a bistro and a lounge. There will also be a training space for students to learn the ins and outs of making film visual effects.

NYU established the center in 2021 following a record gift from “Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, who is the co-CEO of Ariel Investments. The size of the donation has not been reported.

The university already has a presence at Industry City with a business incubator for military veterans. But the 6 million-square-foot, 16-building complex — owned by Belvedere Capital, Jamestown and Angelo Gordon & Co — may be best known for its media tenants.

Among the tenants at the campus are audio-visual store AbelCine, animation production firm Buck and stage lighting retailer LuxLighting. The complex is also home to a pair of European automakers; Porsche and Volvo signed leases for showrooms and service centers a couple of years ago.

The 35-acre campus was the subject of a controversial rezoning effort that kicked off in 2017. The rezoning would have enabled more retail, office and academic use and was expected to lead to $1 billion in investments and a surge in job opportunities.

There was plenty of pushback to the rezoning, including from local City Council member Carlos Menchaca. Three years after it was proposed, mounting political opposition forced the withdrawal of the Industry City rezoning in a setback for the complex.

— Holden Walter-Warner