This Brooklyn apartment building offers an unexpected take on work from home
In Brooklyn, a just-opened development offers a new spin on the work-from-home concept. In addition to 174 units of affordable and supportive housing, the GMDC Brownsville Industrial Center and Bridge Rockaway apartments boast industrial workspace for small businesses. So far, three of the 10 workspaces at the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, which range from 1,250 to 6,000 square feet, are already leased with architectural woodworkers, and the landlord is in talks with a pickle manufacturer, metal worker, and a glass blower. Developers have long found symbiosis in combining different building types with housing: the idea of placing apartments atop public libraries has spread to multiple cities, many supportive housing developments include medical centers or clinics, and Los Angeles will soon see the advent of a Costco residential tower. The Brownsville complex is only the latest. [Photo: The Bridge] Brian T. Coleman, CEO of Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, the industrial developer who worked on the project, said there’s definitely an opportunity for residents to live above the workspace where they run their own small business; he’s often seen craftspeople live in apartments adjacent to his other industrial properties. This layout doesn’t just create opportunities for businesses. According to Coleman, whose firm focuses on manufacturing and industrial projects, it had become harder and harder to find sites for warehouse-type projects that made financial sense in New York City. The rising cost of land, materials, and labor were making such projects prohibitive. But being able to stack housing on top of a light manufacturing site meant more revenue and an easier path to financing. [Photo: Michael Hnatov/courtesy of GMDC] The site in the Brownsville neighborhood was once the U-Bet Chocolate Syrup factory, a key ingredient in the New York City egg cream fountain beverage. Now, it will host workspaces fit for garment makers, set builders, or home-goods makers, and a combination of affordable and supportive housing units, the latter managed by The Bridge, which works with adults suffering from mental illness. Coleman estimates it has enough room to support 35 jobs. The unique nature of the $118 million project meant approval was complicated. It took nearly 8 years to sort out questions for the planning department and figure out how to work through issues with some of the funding sources, which were often limited to just housing or economic development, but not both. [Photo: Michael Hnatov/courtesy of GMDC] Another way the development’s two typologies had trouble mixing was the difficulty in placing renters next to workspaces. The solution included $11.5 million in special abatement measures, including acoustical treatments, vibration isolators, and odor and vapor barriers. The architects at Think! Architecture and Design also designed the project so amenity space, such as a park and a laundry room, sat directly above the industrial floor, not bedrooms. “I always say this manufacturing isn’t my grandfather’s version, like the old Brooklyn Navy Yard or Detroit auto factory,” he said. “You can walk down the hallways of one of our buildings and not know what’s going on.” Now that the funding challenge has been solved, it does open up the potential for more such projects, since it widens the available funding pool for developers; Coleman is already looking for new opportunities. For neighborhoods looking for new housing and new jobs, developments like this suggest, why not add both?
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In Brooklyn, a just-opened development offers a new spin on the work-from-home concept. In addition to 174 units of affordable and supportive housing, the GMDC Brownsville Industrial Center and Bridge Rockaway apartments boast industrial workspace for small businesses. So far, three of the 10 workspaces at the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, which range from 1,250 to 6,000 square feet, are already leased with architectural woodworkers, and the landlord is in talks with a pickle manufacturer, metal worker, and a glass blower.
Developers have long found symbiosis in combining different building types with housing: the idea of placing apartments atop public libraries has spread to multiple cities, many supportive housing developments include medical centers or clinics, and Los Angeles will soon see the advent of a Costco residential tower. The Brownsville complex is only the latest.
Brian T. Coleman, CEO of Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, the industrial developer who worked on the project, said there’s definitely an opportunity for residents to live above the workspace where they run their own small business; he’s often seen craftspeople live in apartments adjacent to his other industrial properties.
This layout doesn’t just create opportunities for businesses. According to Coleman, whose firm focuses on manufacturing and industrial projects, it had become harder and harder to find sites for warehouse-type projects that made financial sense in New York City. The rising cost of land, materials, and labor were making such projects prohibitive. But being able to stack housing on top of a light manufacturing site meant more revenue and an easier path to financing.
The site in the Brownsville neighborhood was once the U-Bet Chocolate Syrup factory, a key ingredient in the New York City egg cream fountain beverage. Now, it will host workspaces fit for garment makers, set builders, or home-goods makers, and a combination of affordable and supportive housing units, the latter managed by The Bridge, which works with adults suffering from mental illness. Coleman estimates it has enough room to support 35 jobs.
The unique nature of the $118 million project meant approval was complicated. It took nearly 8 years to sort out questions for the planning department and figure out how to work through issues with some of the funding sources, which were often limited to just housing or economic development, but not both.
Another way the development’s two typologies had trouble mixing was the difficulty in placing renters next to workspaces. The solution included $11.5 million in special abatement measures, including acoustical treatments, vibration isolators, and odor and vapor barriers. The architects at Think! Architecture and Design also designed the project so amenity space, such as a park and a laundry room, sat directly above the industrial floor, not bedrooms.
“I always say this manufacturing isn’t my grandfather’s version, like the old Brooklyn Navy Yard or Detroit auto factory,” he said. “You can walk down the hallways of one of our buildings and not know what’s going on.”
Now that the funding challenge has been solved, it does open up the potential for more such projects, since it widens the available funding pool for developers; Coleman is already looking for new opportunities. For neighborhoods looking for new housing and new jobs, developments like this suggest, why not add both?
