NEW YORK CITY-In an effort to reenergize the city’s industrial sector, the New York City Economic Development Corp. has released a request for proposals seeking the purchase and development of four vacant and underutilized sites across the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The sites, totaling 268,000 square feet, have the potential to house growing industrial businesses or provide opportunities for ground-up development.
The properties include a 95,000-square-foot property located at 2399 Watson Ave. in Zerega section of the Bronx; an 80,000-square-foot on Atlantic Avenue and Chestnut Street in East New York, Brooklyn; a 53,000-square-foot property on 24th Street and Third Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; and a 40,000-square-foot property at 28th Avenue and 122nd Street in the College Point Corporate Park section of Queens.
According to the NYCEDC, the RFP is part of 22 initiatives in June 2011 by Mayor Bloomberg in partnership with the City Council that will revitalize, modernize and preserve up to nine million square feet of underutilized industrial space, and create and retain up to 30,000 direct and indirect industrial jobs, generate annual payroll earnings of more than $900 million and more than $150 million in city tax revenue.
Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President, along with fellow BPs Ruben Diaz Jr. in the Bronx and Helen Marshall in Queens, support the measure, noting that the RFP will help make “important strides” in reviving the outer-borough’s manufacturing and industrial base. “Brooklyn was once a manufacturing powerhouse, but sadly many of those businesses closed up shop, taking jobs with them,” Markowitz says, while Diaz comments: “these properties possess great potential, and any future redevelopment will significantly enhance the quality of life and will lead to future economic growth.”
The initiatives resulted from an interagency review of the city’s industrial policies, led by deputy mayor for economic development Robert K. Steel, NYCEDC president Seth Pinsky, department of small business services commissioner Robert W. Walsh and city planning commissioner Amanda M. Burden. The review found that while the city’s industrial sector has been declining at 8% annually over the last 10 years, certain subsectors are showing stability and growth. The EDC predicts that are off-shoring costs increase, it is anticipated that industrial activities will continue to grow nationwide.
The review also found that industrial businesses in the city are “challenged by a lack of building stock appropriate for modern industrial uses, higher costs and difficulty maneuvering city processes.” Industrial sectors account for 15% of the city’s overall private employment and more than 23% of employment outside Manhattan.
NYCEDC is accepting responses to the RFP on a rolling basis that will allow respondents to submit one or multiple proposals during any of four consecutive quarterly periods. The first submission deadline is September 13.
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