Sunset Park's New 'Food Manufacturing Hub' Could Employ At Least 100, City Says

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — A new "food manufacturing hub" within the renovated Brooklyn Army Terminal Annex, located along the waterfront at 140 58th St., could one day host 10 companies employing at least 100 people, according to the city's Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

The city payed $15 million to refurbish of the 55,000-square-foot Annex building — which originally housed the Brooklyn Army Terminal's administrative offices — over the last year, according to the EDC, with the goal of hosting "growth-stage tenants."

MOMO Dressing, a maker of Japanese salad dressings, is the first company to move into the Annex. The company currently employees three people, the EDC said.

EDC spokesman Ryan Birchmeier said the city is in talks with four more tenants that could be in place by the end of this year. He declined to name them, but said two were candy manufacturers, while one runs shared kitchens.

Birchmeier predicted more than 100 new jobs could eventually be created in the Annex space. However, he said that estimate isn't based on promises from specific companies. Rather, an analysis of the Annex commissioned by the EDC concluded that one job could be created for every 500 square feet within it — a ratio common to manufacturing operations.

The spokesman added that 100 jobs was a "conservative" estimate, and could be surpassed.

The Brooklyn Army Terminal's largest client is currently Jacques Torres Chocolate. A spokeswoman for the company did not return a request for information on how many people are employed there, or how much they make.

Birchmeier said the EDC is encouraging anyone interested in a future job at the Annex to contact the Workforce1 job training and placement center that opened at the Brooklyn Army Terminal earlier this year. He also said the agency will encourage future tenant companies to hire through Workforce1.

A spokeswoman for the city's Department of Small Business Services, which runs Workforce1, could not immediately be reached for comment regarding the department's job placement record at the Terminal.

Workforce1's career center is located at 140 58th Street in Building B. You can also reach the center by phone at (347) 987-3834 and by email at Workforce1Brooklyn@sbidc.org.

Lead photos courtesy of the Brooklyn Army Terminal