Admirals Row Project Lands Grocery Anchor

NEW YORK CITY—Wegmans Food Markets Inc. will anchor the $140-million redevelopment of Admirals Row at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Also slated for the site is 78,000 square feet of retail space, 126,000 square feet of light industrial space, and 7,000 square feet of community facility space, according to Steiner NYC—the developer of Steiner Studios—which is undertaking the project. Attorneys Douglas Heitner, Jeffrey DiChiara, and Julia Sanabria of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman's real estate practice represented Steiner.

In order to accommodate ongoing demand, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. has secured an option to build 100,000 square feet of additional light industrial space above a parking facility as well, BNYDC stated in an announcement. Work on the site, which also includes restoration of two of the site's historic structures, is expected to begin later this year.

The development is directly across from the 3,000-resident Farragut Houses and is near the Ingersoll and Walt Whitman Houses and the growing residential neighborhoods in Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

“This is a tremendous win for this community and for the people of New York City,” says  Mayor Bill de Blasio. “For thousands of residents who have waited for a supermarket with healthy food they can afford, for the people hoping the next good job at the Navy Yard could be theirs, the Admirals Row project delivers. We're going to see hundreds of good jobs, modern manufacturing, a new community center, and a supermarket that's responsive to the needs of our families.”

BNYDC president and CEO David Ehrenberg adds, “With Wegmans and the entire redevelopment of Admirals Row, local residents will gain needed amenities and the Brooklyn Navy Yard will further its mission to create good-paying, high-quality jobs for area residents. We look forward to working with Wegmans, Steiner NYC, and our community on this meaningful project.”

The development of the Admirals Row site is projected to create more than 1,200 permanent jobs. Wegmans will initially hire 450 people, including 150 people in full-time positions. It is projected that the number of full-time positions at the supermarket may grow to as many as 250, with as many as 600 total jobs expected in the future.

“It is a thrill to bring Wegmans to Brooklyn, along with hundreds of new jobs. Our family started this company in 1916, and we built our business by always putting the needs of our employees first,” says Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman. “Our employees are part of our family, and they are the reason for our success. We are proud to be part of this exciting project and look forward to providing the very best quality and selection, consistent low prices, and incredible customer service to the local and wider Brooklyn community.”