New design for Made in NY Campus combines public and industrial space

December 3, 2019 Jaime DeJesus

Rendering: Made In NY Campus.

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It’s finally taking shape.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation last week released the designs for the garment manufacturing hub and public realm components of the new Made in NY Campus at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park.

According to NYCEDC, the campus, which is slated to open its doors in spring 2021, will provide affordable industrial facilities for garment manufacturing, film and media production, and related services and industries.

“It is rare to combine public space and a public realm with industrial space,” said Jhaelen Hernandez-Eli , senior vice president and head of design and construction at NYCEDC. “This is one of the first industrial campuses in the United States. To be able to reappropriate that kind of waterfront industrial space for more industrial space where people are making things is a unique opportunity.”

The new campus, designed by Brooklyn-based team nARCHITECTS and W Architecture & Landscape Architecture, will include the conversion of a 200,000-square-foot building to a cutting-edge garment manufacturing hub, with workspaces ranging from 2,000 to 40,000 square feet in size. The hub will support 20 to 30 garment-manufacturing companies, with tenants involved in pattern-making, cutting and sewing, and sample-making.

NYCEDC is delivering 5.3 acres of new public space to complement the adjacent Bush Terminal Piers Park and providing new amenities to the community and campus workers. Public amenities will include landscaped waterfront access, enhanced streetscapes, pedestrianized plazas and a water play feature.

“It’s extremely exciting,” Hernandez-Eli said. “It’s been in development for years, but I joined the project overseeing the design construction aspects and we started this process as a team back in early 2018. It’s been a pretty incredible journey to get to this moment.”

One of the goals of the Made in NY Campus is to keep local businesses open and in place. “Sunset Park is probably one of the highest concentrations of garment manufacturing outside of Manhattan, and what’s happening is folks are moving or closing down,” he said. “Now they don’t need to. We are providing a space for them.”