The Brooklyn Navy Yard announced Monday that New York City food institution, Russ & Daughters, will anchor the ground floor of Building 77, its new public food hall and manufacturing space.
Renowned for its signature smoked fish, caviar, traditional bagels, bialys, and baked goods, Russ & Daughters is run by Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper, the fourth generation of the family which founded the business in 1914.
“Our investment in Building 77 means thousands more good jobs in the Navy Yard. Russ & Daughters is a great New York City company, and it’s going to be the first of many to scale up and add new employees in this new manufacturing space,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Russ & Daughters, a quintessential NY institution, as an anchor ground floor tenant at Building 77,” said Brooklyn Navy Yard president & CEO David Ehrenberg.
“We are home to some of NY’s biggest and most innovative manufacturers and are continuing that tradition by adding Russ & Daughters to our community. Russ & Daughters will be an integral part of a bustling ecosystem at Building 77 and will also help attract and support a next generation of food entrepreneurs.”
The company will lease 14,000 s/f for a food manufacturing center as well as a retail space and bagel sandwich shop, enabling it to dramatically expand its food production and distribution capabilities, and providing its first retail presence outside of Manhattan.
The new space will enable the firm to add more than 30 new jobs.
Mayor de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and the New York City Council dedicated approximately $80 million towards the $185 million renovation of Building 77, converting underutilized storage space into a state-of-the-art manufacturing, tech and design hub.
When completed in early 2017, the one-million square foot building will add 3,000 jobs.
For the first time in years, the Yard will have space to accommodate the growth of existing businesses and to provide a home to new businesses.
The 60,000 s/f ground floor will serve as a public gateway to the Yard, and the central gathering point for Yard businesses, employees and their guests.
The majority of the Yard is currently not open to the public, and remains to many an
unknown pocket of the Brooklyn waterfront. A communal amenity space on the ground floor of Building 77 will not only bring services to the thousands of people who work in the Yard each day, but will be designed to invite the public to peek a little deeper into the Yard and enjoy the offerings in the public hall.
BNYDC also announced that it is issuing a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the remaining ground floor space at Building 77.
BNYDC is especially focused on leasing to smaller food manufacturing and retail companies, with a strong preference for local and Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE).
“We encourage interested parties to reply to our RFEI to learn more about opportunities on the ground floor of Building 77,” Ehrenberg continued.
“Food and drink have always been a powerful convener, and, once complete, this space will become the central gathering area for our growing Yard community of makers, doers, and thinkers and will truly become a gateway to the Yard.”
The ground floor will include tenant opportunities for large and small production space. Food manufacturers will have the opportunity to produce their goods in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and will be required to create a retail space to offer their product in the public hall.
Dedicated retail spaces are also available for vendors to prepare and serve food and beverages.
Marvel Architects is designing the ground floor manufacturing spaces, the public hall and landscaped plaza in front of Building 77.
