NEW YORK CITY-Solar, wind, biotech and other green industries are beginning to blossom on Staten Island. The borough’s “Green Zone” plan has been kicked into high gear after the Staten Island Economic Development Corp. approved engineering consultant PB Americas Inc. to produce a federally funded study for the Island’s green industrial and manufacturing cluster late Wednesday.
The zone--spanning from the foot of Goethals Bridge down to the Fresh Kills Landfill--is an initiative spearheaded by the SIEDC to bring clean tech and green industrial facilities to 4,000 acres of underdeveloped manufacturing lands along the West Shore here. “The main issue that we are trying to figure out here with the green zone is how do we keep businesses competitive and how do we keep Staten Island competitive when we have so much competition from New Jersey,” says Steve Grillo, program manager at the SIEDC, in an interview with GlobeSt.com. Earlier in the year, the nonprofit received a $120,000 grant from the US Economic Development Administration to fund the creation of the plan. “We are looking at probably 500 to 700 acres of truly developable land that we want companies to come in and either start up green businesses or use the land for urban agriculture,” Grillo adds. “We are also doing a lot of retro-fittings of buildings that are out there.”
Following a three-month RFP process, Grillo says the SIEDC chose PB Americas based on their local expertise and global reach. “They have a great worldwide planning firm,” he says. “Plus they’ve done a lot of projects on Staten Island, as well as on the West Shore itself.”
But getting the ball rolling on the green zone has been three years in the making. Since 2008, the SIEDC has established relationships with the New York City Investment Fund, an arm of the Partnership for New York City, to provide debt and equity investments to developers and entrepreneurs interested in starting a green business on the Island. From there, the SIEDC drafted legislation with Congressman Michael McMahon (D-NY) and Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer (D-NY) about the zone, which has been introduced by the New York State Assembly. Since then, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority designated the area as an energy target zone. “What we said is that we want to focus on creating better industry, and let’s do it through green industry and smart development,” Grillo says, noting that the bill establishes a faster permitting process and shovel-ready sites.
As the borough faces high tolls, heavy traffic congestion and increased competition from New Jersey’s industrial sector, Grillo says the green zone can be an attractive place for new industries to start-up as available manufacturing space in the Tri-State continues to shrink.
“That’s PB’s job, to think about what other incentives may be possible for businesses, like tax incentives, tax credits and permitting access,” he says. “We are also looking at what types of companies are in the region that we haven’t addressed or if there are industries we haven’t tapped.”
Thus far, a handful of projects are either planned for, or already located within the proposed boundaries of the zone, including a 50-kilowatt solar system by Solar Energy Systems LLC on the National Grid Service Center at 200 Gulf Ave., as well as a brownfield remediation taking place on the ISC Industrial Site. In addition, Faztec Industries is expanding its asphalt recycling facility at 200 Bloomfield Ave., WWC General Contractors is creating a waterfront green industrial park and Pratt Industries is developing a state-of-the-art recycling mill.
At Fresh Kills, a portion of the 2,200-acre landfill has also been remediated into a public park. Borough President James P. Molinaro has also proposed to erect seven 400-foot wind turbines on the site, which can produce 30 megawatts of energy, or about 6% of the borough’s total energy needs.
Outside of the zone, several other green initiatives are in the works. The Jewish Community Center of Staten Island is seeking funds for the installation of rooftop solar panels at 1466 Manor Rd., while the Staten Island Mental Health Society is also developing the borough’s first green office building at 444 St. Mark’s Place in St. George.
Currently, the SIEDC is marketing a two-acre, city-owned site suitable for manufacturing use. “We have properties that run the gamut from 50 acres down to two acres,” Grillo says. “There is available land out here.”
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
