Rendering of 399 Sands Street. Image credit: Steiner NYC.
Addition of manufacturing and creative space supports City goals to provide more middle-class jobs. On June 13, 2018, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, Alicia Glen, together with the Brooklyn Navy Yards and Steiner NYC, announced the beginning of construction at 399 Sands Street. The project will add manufacturing and creative office space at the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard, an urban manufacturing center, and is expected to bring manufacturing jobs to the area. The project is also part of Steiner’s Admirals Row Development, a six-acre site at the southwest corner of the Navy Yard being developed for commercial and industrial use.
The project will create 230,000 square feet of leasable space above the parking structure at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The property at 399 Sands Street is currently nine stories. The first four floors will house a 430-car parking lot adjacent to a Wegmans Supermarket. The next three floors will be leased as manufacturing space and the top floor will be leased for creative office space. The parking lot will be completed in 2019 and the manufacturing and office spaces will be completed in 2021.
The City has invested $40 million on the project through its New York Works Program. New York Works was created from Mayor de Blasio’s 2017 State of the City address where he set the goal of using direct City actions to create 100,000 new, quality jobs over the next ten years. These jobs are expected to pay at least $50,000 a year or put people on a path towards achieving such level of wages. The project is expected to create 700 to 1,000 permanent high-quality jobs and is in line with the New York Works Program’s goal to create 20,000 jobs within the City’s industrial and manufacturing industry and 10,000 jobs within the creative and cultural sectors. The 399 Sands project will also bring the total Admirals Row job count to 2,000.
Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen said, “New York City grew up around the Brooklyn Navy Yard – and thanks to the City’s $40 million New York Works investment in 399 Sands Street, the Yard will continue to fuel growth, and provide manufacturing and creative jobs for generations to come.”
Doug Steiner, Chairman of Steiner NYC, said “The Brooklyn Navy Yard is the epicenter of New York City’s innovative economy. Brooklyn is the home, and now workplace, of the creative class. This is where the job growth is, and where it needs to continue. Admirals Row, together with 399 Sands, represents a new urban model for mixed-use development. And Wegmans, which is consistently ranked as one of the top ten companies to work for in the United States, is the ideal anchor tenant. We are excited to be expanding this project and to invest alongside the City of New York. It feels great to help create so many jobs.”
Council Member Stephen Levin said, “If anyone doubts manufacturing as a part of our City’s future, they need only take one look at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We are returning to the legacy of an economic and innovation engine whose heart beats in Brooklyn, but supports communities around the City. This latest investment will fuel the continued job growth that supports local businesses and empowers workers to provide for themselves, their families, and their community.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said, “399 Sands Street will further cement the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a premier destination for creative and manufacturing innovation. This public-private partnership along Admirals Row will generate high-quality jobs that support our burgeoning borough.”