CROWN HEIGHTS — As other old industrial complexes in Crown Heights are converted into artists' studios and beer gardens, one former auto parts warehouse on Atlantic Avenue is bucking the trend.
The Atlantic Avenue Industrial Center, a shuttered warehouse at 1102 Atlantic Ave., recently secured an additional $4 million in equity to support its conversion into a micro-manufacturing space. Set to open by the end of 2014, the 50,000-square-foot building will house workshops for 14 artisanal manufacturers.
Bank of America and Enterprise Community Investment allocated $12.5 million in federal tax credits to the project, generating $4 million in equity for the warehouse rehab through an IRS program designed to encourage investments in low-income communities.
"This project is an important driver of economic development and community revitalization in Crown Heights," Bank of America Regional Director Todd Gomez said in a statement. "New Markets Tax Credit investments are a valuable tool for helping provide capital in underserved communities here in Brooklyn and across the U.S.”
The Bank of America money, along with nearly $4.6 million from the City Council and the Brooklyn borough president's office, will help fund the creation of workspaces for small-scale wood and metal workers, among others, developer Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center said.
Unlike nearby 1000 Dean St. and its many warehouse-turned-studio neighbors to the south, the complex between Classon and Franklin avenues will remain an industrial facility, albeit serving a very different industry than the auto shops that once dominated the area.
"The project will address New York City’s growing emphasis on providing living wage employment opportunities to low‐income New Yorkers," the developer wrote on its website. "Once fully built out, the project will provide space for approximately 14 new businesses and 54 new or retained jobs for workers making an average of $43,000 per year."
