NEW YORK CITY—Two city agencies have created 50,000 square feet of space earmarked for studios and workspaces for artists or artist-based businesses at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
The New York City Economic Development Corp. and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs state that ArtBuilt Brooklyn, a nonprofit arts organization, will subdivide the space to create up to 50 artist workspaces at the Sunset Park complex.
Renovation work is already underway, with an anticipated opening in late 2017. ArtBuilt Brooklyn is looking to secure long-term leases with individuals and firms that require spaces ranging from 250 square feet to 4,000 square feet. ArtBuilt Brooklyn will complement a cluster of existing artist spaces at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, including Chashama, which currently operates 60,000 square feet of visual artist studios.
“The creative and cultural economy is synonymous with the identity of New York City. Investments in these industries are investments in our competitive advantage,” says NYCEDC President and CEO James Patchett. “By welcoming ArtBuilt to the Brooklyn Army Terminal, we're not just creating much-needed affordable artist space; we're creating good jobs across industries that have pushed New York City forward for decades.”
ArtBuilt co-executive directors Guy Buckles and Esther Robinson, add, “Businesses that need small-footprint industrial space—from a few hundred to a couple of thousand square feet—just can't get a toehold in New York City's overheated estate market. By aggregating these small producers, we give them the leverage they need to compete with the bigger players.”
In 2015, the nonprofit arts organization ArtBuilt conceived ArtBuilt Brooklyn in response to a wave of studio evictions in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which displaced hundreds of artists and creative enterprises. ArtBuilt partnered with a group of displaced artists to search for new space that could offer both affordability and the stability of a long-term lease. NYCEDC offered ArtBuilt both affordable industrial space and long-term leases at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. ArtBuilt Brooklyn will help the city achieve Mayor Bill de Blasio's Affordable Real Estate for Artists initiative that looks to create 10,000 good creative and cultural jobs. The agreement with ArtBuilt is expected to provide 500 affordable workspaces for artists over the next decade.
The city has invested more than $115 million to position the Brooklyn Army Terminal as a hub for manufacturing and emerging industries in New York City. In June, NYCEDC welcomed the first three tenants of the Brooklyn Army Terminal's food manufacturing hub. Earlier this year, the city announced the first advanced manufacturing tenant to operate out of the Brooklyn Army Terminal—Lowercase—which utilizes 3D printing and CNC (computer numerical control) technology to bring eyewear production back to the United States. With more than 3 million square feet of leasable space, the Brooklyn Army Terminal is home to more than 100 companies that employ in excess of 700 workers.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
