NEW YORK CITY—Delivering on the needs and expectations of many companies, the city and developer JEMB Realty announced plans late Monday for a new, sizeable commercial development in Brooklyn's Tech Triangle.
Deputy Mayor for housing and economic development Alicia Glen, the NYC Economic Development Corp. and JEMB intend to bring 400,000 square feet of new office and retail space to 420 Albee Square. The first ground-up construction of commercial space in the area since it was re-zoned in 2004, the project is the latest part of the Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment Plan, a city strategy to revitalize this area, under which the city has made $300 million in investments in open space and infrastructure.
The project should help address the need being felt across the city for additional office space. The space is being marketed by a JLL team—led by Mitch Konsker, vice chairman—that includes Scott Cahaly, Clayton Kline and Kyle Young. The EDC projects that 60 million square feet of new commercial office space will be needed across the city by 2025, much of it in outer borough commercial hubs like Downtown Brooklyn.
The announcement accompanied the release of a Tech Triangle Economic Impact report by the Brooklyn Tech Triangle Coalition—a group comprised of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, Brooklyn Navy Yard and DUMBO Improvement District. The report calls for the creation of 3.1 million square feet of office space to meet the needs of the workforce and business community in the Tech Triangle. The Coalition recommends creating commercial and industrial working space, leveraging city assets to support commercial growth, investing in public spaces, and enhancing transit infrastructure to help support the growing creative and tech ecosystem, which the Coalition expects to grow by 18,000 jobs in the next 10 years.
"We want to make sure that companies keep starting-up, innovating and growing in the Tech Triangle," says Glen. "The city can spur that growth by making sure innovators have the office space they need."
Adds NYCEDC president Maria Torres-Springer, "We are finding ways to utilize city-owned assets by leveraging the power of public-private partnerships, capitalizing upon every opportunity to create the space innovative businesses need to thrive, expand and create the jobs of today and tomorrow."
"Today's announcement delivers exactly what Downtown Brooklyn needs: space for jobs to support Brooklyn's economy and a commitment to infrastructure like open space to support that growth," says Downtown Brooklyn Partnership president Tucker Reed. "In 2004, Downtown Brooklyn was rezoned with a primary aim of creating new office space, but since then we've experienced a residential boom instead. It's time for our commercial inventory to catch up."
"This project is yet another step in the push to create a new commercial business district in Downtown Brooklyn," notes US Senator Chuck Schumer. "Tech is booming in Brooklyn and we must make sure adequate commercial space exists to allow continued job growth."
Observes Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams, "The demand for commercial space in Downtown Brooklyn is far outweighing the supply, a direct impact on our ability to create local jobs and support the needs of our burgeoning community," said. "Developing 420 Albee Square for commercial and office usage is an important piece of the larger puzzle we must solve."
"Innovators and makers are gravitating to new commercial space in the Brooklyn Tech Triangle at a rapid pace," says Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. president David Ehrenberg. "Brooklyn has long been a catalyst for innovation, and the Tech Triangle brings together our brightest minds in tech and manufacturing, allowing for collaboration. Providing more commercial space in Brooklyn will allow us to compete both nationally and internationally."
The announcement is part of the overall Willoughby Square project, which will bring a new one-acre public open space atop a below-ground parking garage.
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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.
