Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Retail Hub and Artists' Studios to Take Over Empty East New York Lot

By Camille Bautista | May 27, 2016 10:14am | Updated on May 31, 2016 8:40am
 Business and artist incubator ReNew Lots from organization ARTs East New York will return at a new location in 2017, organizers said.
Business and artist incubator ReNew Lots from organization ARTs East New York will return at a new location in 2017, organizers said.
View Full Caption
Cepods/AENY

EAST NEW YORK — A vacant lot in East New York will be transformed into a business and artist incubator next year with the return of the ReNew Lots Market project.

About 20 shipping containers will be used for retail spaces, artists’ studios and a sound and production studio at an empty property on New Lots Avenue and Cleveland Street, according to Catherine Green, the founder of ARTs East New York which will run the project.

The 20,000-square-foot lot under the elevated 3 train tracks will also have areas for community performances and film screenings, and the two-story containers are expected to have solar panels and green roofing, Green said.

“The idea is to give opportunity to local artists and retailers,” the arts organization founder said.

“It’s an economic development initiative, creating the change from within the neighborhood in lieu of waiting for changes to happen for us. We’re taking the reins in the development in our neighborhood and we’re very excited about that.”

The project is expected to be up and running in 2017, Green added. It will operate in partnership with the New York City Department of City Planning, the Local Development Corporation of East New York and the Brooklyn Arts Council.

Plans detail a 3D print lab, digital photography museum and a garden.

It will be the second phase for the ReNew Lots Market, which previously operated at two vacant plots of land on New Lots Avenue in the summer of 2015.

The continued initiative will be funded with help from the National Endowment for the Arts, which rewarded the organization with $100,000.