Navy Yard Issues RFP for Retail

NEW YORK CITY-Following May’s agreement between the city and the National Guard Bureau on redeveloping Admirals’ Row, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. has issued an RFP for a retail center including a large-format supermarket on the six-acre site. A pre-submittal meeting and site visit will be held for interested developers on August 11, and responses are due by Oct. 19.

The RFP, which calls the surrounding neighborhood “underserved” by grocery, stipulates a supermarket of no less than 40,000 square feet, as well as an additional 20,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space. It also entails at least 40,000 square feet on an upper floor to accommodate light industrial uses, and could include additional upper floor commercial uses.

According to the RFP, the developer must also repair and renovate the Timber Shed and Building B, the two 19th century historic buildings that will be preserved per the May agreement with the National Guard Bureau. The developer must obtain at least LEED Silver certification for new and renovated buildings, the RFP states, and the design must complement the ongoing renovation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“In addition to the rapidly growing surrounding communities,” which include Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford Stuyvesant and Greenpoint/Williamsburg among others, “nearly 40,000 residents live within a 10-minute walk of the site and 5,000 people work at the Navy Yard everyday,” says Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the BNYDC, in a release. “Our goal is to put this property back to productive use by providing a unique opportunity for developers with the capacity and track record of establishing supermarkets and community-oriented retail that will serve the community and create local jobs.”