In prepared remarks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the expansion at the Navy Yard furthers both the city's Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan, which he announced earlier this month, and PlaNYC, a program to green the city that began in April 2007. "Part of our Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan is to invest in the creation of green jobs," Bloomberg said. "Of the 1,700 new permanent jobs we're creating at the Navy Yard, 40% will be in green manufacturing. The sustainable developments at the Navy Yard show that PlaNYC's goals of green buildings and renewable energy make sense economically as well as environmentally."

The three-story, 89,000-square-foot Perry Building will feature both rooftop solar panels and wind turbines. It also includes reflective roofing and pavement to reduce surface temperatures, the use of recycled rain water in toilets, recycled building materials, high-efficiency lighting fixtures, natural ventilation systems and special accommodation for bicyclists and low-emission vehicles.

With a goal of achieving LEED Gold certification, the Perry Avenue property will be 100%-leased to fine arts services firm SurroundArt, which will use the space to create a museum resource center serving the art industry and institutions in New York City and elsewhere. SurroundArt already occupies 71,000 square feet at the Navy Yard.