Brooklyn, New York
486,000 sq. ft. / 45,150 sq. m.
Transforming a 1919 Army terminal into a high-tech center for bioscience.
HOK is designing the New York Science and Technology Center, also known as BioBAT, in a portion of the 4-million-square-foot Brooklyn Army Terminal. Our design is helping to transform the former waterfront supply warehouse into a thriving center for commercial bioscience. The center will include multi-tenant life science research, development and manufacturing space.
Completed in 1919, the Brooklyn Army Terminal served as the country’s largest military supply base through World War II. The Cass Gilbert-designed facility sits on Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront and is owned by the City of New York and leased by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Today, it houses dozens of commercial and industrial tenants, with significant room for expansion.
BioBAT, Inc. is a non-profit partnership between the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center through the SUNY Research Foundation.
The goal of this project is to retain early-stage bioscience companies associated with NYC’s nine top academic medical and research institutions while also capturing companies from other states looking to relocate or establish new facilities in New York City. By making state-of-the-art, energy efficient commercial lab and support spaces available, BioBAT provides incentives for these companies to develop their innovations and create local jobs.
“This cutting-edge, high-tech, research and bio-manufacturing facility, one of the largest on the East Coast, will put us in the position to create jobs now and compete for the jobs of tomorrow,” said State Senator Martin Golden. “The time, the energy and the thought that has gone into creating this biotech park has the potential to make Brooklyn the Silicon Valley of the biotech industry.”
Through the development of this transformative project, the City of New York and SUNY Downstate will author a new chapter in the history of bioscience by providing nearly 500,000 square feet of space to support industry-leading science tenants. With the innovative re-purposing of a historic waterfront building in Brooklyn, the partnership that established BioBAT is creating an exemplary environment for science and a valuable asset for New York City.
The project will be developed on an incremental basis to optimally respond to the diverse needs of BioBAT’s tenants, which will range from early-phase startup companies through larger, more mature companies. Construction on the first 85,000 square feet at BioBAT is expected to be complete in late 2011. The facility can accommodate tenant space needs ranging from 5,000 square feet to full floors at 56,000 square feet each.
