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BMW to Open Co-Working Space in Former Home of Brooklyn Night Bazaar

By Gwynne Hogan | March 29, 2016 10:02am
 A/D/O will be open to the public late this summer, its owners said. 
A/D/O will be open to the public late this summer, its owners said. 
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Renderings of A/D/O

GREENPOINT — BMW is hoping to tap into north Brooklyn's creative economy by opening co-working offices, a restaurant and event space aimed at the area's design professionals.

A/D/O, billed as a "place for design professionals to work, develop and play," will open late this summer at 29 Norman Ave., taking over the massive warehouse that was once home to the Brooklyn Night Bazaar.

Esther Bahne, who heads a business innovation team at MINI, a BMW offshoot that's backing the project, explained the company's curious pivot from cars to co-working.

“At our roots, MINI is a design company,” said Bahne. “We’re opening a space dedicated to designers because we view design as core to our heritage and integral to our future. The first MINI was the vision of a free-thinking design team and their creative spirit inspired this space."

A/D/O — named after the design team that came up with the MINI in 1959 — will feature a restaurant, a work area and lounge open to the public with free Wi-Fi, shared office space, a workshop with 3D printers and laser cutters and design classrooms. 

"The goal is definitely to get some creative juices flowing," said Nate Pinsley, director of the new space.

The 23,000-square-foot space will also house a design store and the business incubator URBAN-X that will fund 20 new businesses a year.

BMW took over the lease at 29 Norman Ave. last spring, displacing the Brooklyn Night Bazaar that had had a short-term lease on the space since 2013.

Brooklyn Night Bazaar is on track to reopen nearby in the defunct Polonaise Terrace building at 144 Greenpoint Ave.