9/4/2013
By Ivan Pereira
The city announced plans Wednesday to make over an abandoned set of DUMBO warehouses into Brooklyn’s newest hot spot.
The Brooklyn Bridge Park board of directors selected Midtown Equities to work on the old Empire Stores warehouses.
The seven buildings, which take up 347,000 a combined square feet, were built between 1869 and 1885 and used to store coffee until the ’60s.
By fall of 2015, the Water Street space should be converted to stores, offices and event space that Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “These redevelopment plans will bring even more new life and excitement to the DUMBO waterfront at Brooklyn Bridge Park, giving residents and visitors more places to work, shop, dine, and experience the arts,” he said.
Aside from the stores and other commercial uses, midtown Equities said it will be working with the Brooklyn Historical Society to create 3,200 square feet of exhibition space that celebrates the borough’s history.
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Board also approved a separate lease that will transform the Tobacco Warehouse at 26 New Dock St. into a multipurpose facility that will house art shows, performances and other uses.
