The importer, manufacturer and distributor of denim products, which has been here since 1999, plans to build one facility in the Bronx and the other in Queens. With the help of the city's Economic Development Commission, the company will develop a 118,000-sf site in the Zerega Industrial Park in the Bronx. The company plans to invest $10.5 million in the effort to construct the one-story warehouse on a currently vacant lot owned by the city. Approximately 103,000 sf will be allocated for warehouse use and the rest will be for office space.

Federal plans to build a 150,000-sf light manufacturing and distribution facility on a 270,000-sf vacant lot located between Beach 77th and Beach 84th streets in Far Rockaway, Queens at an estimated cost $10 million. "Much of our company's great success is a result of the cooperation and support we've gotten over the years from the City of New York," says Federal Jeans president Yoram Moussaieff. In 1999, with the help of the New York City Industrial Development Agency, Federal purchased three parcels of vacant city-owned property in East New York to build 100,000 sf of additional warehouse space to expand its existing adjacent 62,400-sf facility.

Tuxedo manufacturer Lord West, which had owned an industrial condo in Whitestone, Queens since 1980, chose to leave the borough and relocate distribution facilities to Pennsylvania. According to Greiner-Maltz, the property was picked up by a sundries distributor who is expanding. Managing partner John Maltz notes that while some manufacturers find benefits to leaving the area, "properties of this size and complexity are quickly filled by growing businesses." A major drawback: the newer companies tend to provide fewer jobs.