![]() UncommonGoods, an online retailer with a year-round staff of nearly 200, is one of the terminal’s biggest employers. “We have all the amenities we need plus the room we’ve needed to grow.” “BAT is the perfect home for us,” says native Brooklynite Kristine Tonkonow, founder and CEO of the Konery, maker of boutique waffle cones. In all, more than 100 businesses employing more than 4,000 workers operate on the terminal’s grounds. An on-site job training center, the Brooklyn Workforce1 Industrial & Transportation Career Center, provides a stream of pre-screened applicants. Growth stage businesses find homes in three micro-manufacturing hubs whose workspaces range in size from 1,500 sq. The terminal’s Annex building, upgraded in 2016 to the tune of $15 million, is devoted to food manufacturing. Kristine Tonkonow, Founder and CEO, The Konery Buildings “A” and “B,” the heart of the complex, total more square footage than the Empire State Building. Such is the city’s commitment that it has invested several hundred million dollars in rolling renovations to the campus, which includes six buildings spread over 55 acres (22 hectares). “We pride ourselves,” says Stein, “on being an affordable, modern manufacturing hub within the neighborhood.” “Because we’re a mission-driven landlord, we’ve been able to turn the Brooklyn Army Terminal into a community-driven industrial center for modern jobs and skills,” says Julie Stein, senior vice president in NYCEDC’s Asset Management Division. With the city having purchased the terminal in 1981, NYCEDC has led a long-running mission to forge it into a breeding ground for manufacturing. That’s music to the ears of officials at New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the quasi-governmental organization that manages the terminal among other municipal real estate assets. They’re like, ‘Wow, things are still made in New York? There’s still craftsmanship there?’ They just connect with it.” “We learned early on that the New York brand really resonates with people. “Being where we are, we’re able to mark all our stuff ‘Made in NYC,’ and that’s just massively important,” Masci tells Site Selection. ![]() Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of renovations have brought BAT to life.
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