A new development plan for Sunset Park aims to create thousands of jobs over the next 10 years, while applying for more than $100 million in taxpayer money.
The Industry City redevelopment project in Brooklyn, expected to be operational with zoning changes by 2025, will cost more than $1 billion in private investments. The 16-building initiative on an industrial stretch of the waterfront should create nearly 20,000 jobs.
The project will house retail, clothing and food manufacturing, as well as a new practice facility for the Brooklyn Nets. The developer also plans to attract a hotel for the space.
“We don’t want storage facilities there, we want a working community where people who live in the area could walk to work, have jobs, the ability to make a great living wage,” said Carlo Scissura, President of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “The goal is for a very very large and robust outreach to Sunset Park residents.”
The project needs $113 million from the city for supporting infrastructure, such as street and sidewalk repairs, a spokeswoman for Industry City said. The development project will also need to apply for zoning changes.
“We’re excited about the transformation at Industry City and investments that can complement our vision for a thriving manufacturing and innovation hub in Sunset Park,” Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, wrote in an email. “We look forward to the public review process and hearing from stakeholders about the right uses to deliver for both this community and the city.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said he wants to work with the developers to “ensure a shared vision of neighborhood redevelopment.”
“Industry City is at the germination of innovation,” he wrote in an email. “This proposal by Industry City is a key step towards helping to reactivate Sunset Park’s waterfront and spurring economic development for the borough, common goals we should all share.”
Several major companies have already signed on to be tenants, including Blue Marble Ice Cream, 3-D printing company MakerBot, and candy makers Liddabit Sweets, according to Industry City.
“They have some retail but it’s a maker community,” Scissura said. “It’s a unique opportunity in New York.”
The space currently houses a small food hall, which first opened in 2013.
