NYCEDC selects Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center as first Industrial Developer Fund awardee

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Dec 13, 2016

The New York City Economic Development Center announced this month that nonprofit developer Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) has been selected as the first awardee of the Industrial Developer Fund (IDF).

 
With support from the IDF, GMDC will redevelop 90,000-square-feet of industrial space at Ozone Park in Queens. The new development will be a multi-tenant space for small and medium-sized industrial and light manufacturing businesses, and it will have capacity for 24 businesses and 80 workers earning an average of $51,500 per year.
 
“Now more than ever, we must ensure that our economy is diverse, equitable, and provides opportunity for all New Yorkers. Supporting the industrial sector is critical to that effort, said NYCEDC President Maria Torres-Springer. “Today, I’m proud to announce the first award of the City’s Industrial Developer Fund, which will help create affordable space for small industrial businesses so that they can create good paying jobs in neighborhoods across the city. GMDC has a successful record of supporting quality industrial jobs and we are proud to partner with them on this important project.”

The IDF, a public/private fund that includes approximately $60 million in public funds, was first announced in November 2015 as part of Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito’s ten-point plan to grow industrial and manufacturing jobs. The first awardee GMDC has rehabilitated seven industrial buildings in New York City since 1992.
 
NYCEDC in October selected Techshop, the San Jose-based workshop and fabrication studio, to operate a 15,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Brooklyn. NYCEDC has made strides to help fashion designers in New York City through its Made in NY: Fashion, Design Entrepreneurs NYC and Fashion Manufacturing initiatives.

In 2016, NYCEDC launched the NYC Fashion Forward initiative that offered 100 New York City high school and college students internships with fashion companies, and it held its second annual Global Business Exchange with Milan.