NEW YORK CITY-In a reminder that change is imminent at City Hall, another high ranking executive is stepping down from the Economic Development Corp. David Ehrenberg, EVP of the organization, has been tapped to lead the Brookyn Navy Yard, as president. He will join the non-profit organization on Sept. 9th.
Ehrenberg has been in his current position for two and a half years but he's risen up the ranks at EDC, where he's served for seven years, he tells GlobeSt.com. The EVP post was previously held both by Seth Pinsky—who stepped down as president of EDC a month ago to become an EVP at RXR—and Kyle Kimball, Pinsky's successor, Ehrenberg notes.
As president of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ehrenberg will oversee the development of more than one million square feet of new industrial space and manage the upgrading of the Yard's infrastructure in addition to leasing and the promotion of local economic development through the Yard's employment programs.
His decision to head over to the Navy Yard likely doesn't come as a surprise to those in his inner circle. “The Navy Yard has been on my radar screen for quite a while,” he says. “The effort there to marry the critical nature of industrial employment with bringing in creative firms that are part of the innovation economy arts and culture is vital to the future of cities.”
“The tenant mix includes traditional industrial firms as well as creative companies that still make something but don't have an assembly line,” he continues. “There's even a cluster of three-dimentional printers there. The creative design/manufacturing hybrids current in the Yard include Situ Fabrication and New Lab, a shared space whose tenants currently include Spuni, RockPaperRobot, and TerraForm.
"This is the reality of the New York City economy," Ehrenberg says, "we have to balance industrial jobs with the creative renaissance of the city. Getting to do that in Brooklyn is a real opportunity.”
Investors must agree with his assessment, the Navy Yard has received $250 million in public investment and another $750 million from the private sector. The city-owned Navy Yard is currently undergoing an expansion—its largest since WWII—that will create more than 1.8 million square feet of new space and 2,500 jobs over the next two years.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has nothing but praise for Ehrenberg. “Building on his many accomplishments at EDC, in which he was a key player in a number of our Administration's economic development priorities, David will no doubt continue to lead the Navy Yard along this impressive path.”
Adds deputy Mayor for economic development Robert Steel, "The transformation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard under Mayor Bloomberg's leadership has created thousands of jobs and attracted significant private investment in Brooklyn's industrial economy, and we are thrilled that David Ehrenberg has been selected to carry on that legacy. David's track record of advancing major economic development projects at EDC positions him to be an outstanding leader of the Yard."
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
