Brooklyn Navy Yard's Building 77 to See $80 M Renovation

The Brooklyn Navy Yard's largest building is slated for a major facelift. 

Building 77, a 16-story, one million-square-foot warehouse and former ammunition depot, will be transformed into a modern medical lab by an $80 million renovation, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) announced Wednesday. 

Construction is set to begin in the spring of 2013 and will be completed in 18 months. The renovations will be built to LEED Silver standards and include plans to develop a portion of the building to attract innovative technology and manufacturing companies.

"Thanks to $80 million of private investment from BNYDC and investors, Building 77 will come back to life as a hub of manufacturing and technology innovation," said BNYDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball in a statement. 

BNYDC will spend approximately $60 million in base building work financed through a loan using the federal EB-5 program, as well as Federal and New York State historic rehabilitation tax credits and Federal new markets tax credits. 

The reuse of the building will result in the creation of up to 1,500 new jobs at the Navy Yard over the next five years.

"The Navy Yard and surrounding Brooklyn Tech Triangle are positioned for strong economic growth and the addition of up to 1, 500 new innovative tech and manufacturing jobs will help more New Yorkers plug into this growing sector," said Speaker Christine C. Quinn.  

To launch the redevelopment, BNYDC leased 240,000 square feet to Jack Basch, ceo of Shiel Medical Laboratories, which will occupy at least one floor and approximately 60,000 square feet of the building. Basch will sub-lease the rest of his space to other high-tech industrial and medical-service companies. 

"Our expansion into Building 77 will provide room for our rapid growth as well as a space for other high-tech medical services companies," Basch said. 

Basch and his sub-tenants will invest approximately $20 million for their build-out and new equipment. He has also committed to work with BNYDC’s employment center to ensure that as many as possible local residents find jobs with Shiel and his other sub-tenants.