Brooklyn Army Terminal: industrial and office space guide

A short history of the terminal on the Sunset Park waterfront

The Brooklyn Army Terminal went up quickly at the end of World War I. Construction ran through roughly 1918 and 1919, and the Army needed a place to receive, store and ship enormous quantities of supplies to troops overseas. Cass Gilbert, the architect best known in New York for the Woolworth Building, designed it. That pairing is a little surprising until you see the buildings. They are plain, poured concrete, and almost completely free of ornament, but the proportions are careful and the scale is hard to absorb from the street.

The complex was laid out around rail and water. Freight cars ran right into the site, ships tied up at the piers, and goods moved between them through the warehouses. The best-known space is the atrium inside Building B: a long, skylit court with rail tracks running down the floor and staggered concrete balconies stepping back on each side, so cranes could lower cargo to each level. Architects and photographers still come to see it.

The terminal stayed in military use for decades and was a major supply and troop embarkation point during World War II. One piece of trivia people like: Elvis Presley shipped out to Germany from here in 1958 during his Army service. Military activity wound down over the following years, and the City acquired the property from the federal government in the early 1980s. Since then it has been operated as a city-owned industrial campus, with large parts of the old warehouse floors converted into space for manufacturers and other businesses.

We give this background for a practical reason. The building was engineered for heavy loads, wide column spacing and rail-to-ship logistics. Some of that design helps modern tenants (strong floors, big freight capacity) and some of it creates quirks (very deep floor plates, long walks from the elevator to the window line). Knowing where the building came from helps you ask the right questions on a tour.

Who owns and runs it, and why that changes your lease

The Brooklyn Army Terminal is owned by the City of New York and managed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). That is the most important fact for any tenant, because it shapes almost everything about how a deal gets done.

A private landlord prices space to maximize return. NYCEDC also cares about rent and keeping the buildings funded, but its public mission is jobs and industrial activity in the city. In practice that means the questions you get asked are different. Expect interest in what you make, how many people you employ or plan to employ, and whether your business fits the industrial and innovation profile the City wants on the campus.

One more point we raise with every client. DiBe Real Estate is not the leasing agent for the Brooklyn Army Terminal and does not speak for NYCEDC. We represent tenants. Our job is to help you decide whether the Army Terminal is the right home at all, and if it is, to put together a clean, well-documented request and work through the terms on your side of the table.

The kinds of businesses the Army Terminal is built for

The campus has long been marketed for industrial and innovation users. We describe the target tenant base qualitatively here, since the mix of who is in the buildings changes and we do not publish a tenant roster.

• Manufacturing and fabrication. Companies that build physical products, from hardware and furniture to specialized components, benefit from the floor loads and freight elevators.
• Food production. Commercial kitchens, packaged food makers and food distributors look at the campus for its loading and its access to the Gowanus Expressway and the rest of the borough.
• Life science and lab users. NYCEDC has promoted the campus for life science companies. Whether a lab-ready suite is available at any moment is something to confirm directly, since lab space is specialized and limited.
• Innovation and hardware startups. Engineering firms, robotics and hardware companies that need a mix of shop floor and office often look here.
• Supporting office. Office space exists on the campus, but it usually makes most sense for companies whose office sits next to production, rather than as a stand-alone headquarters search.

If your business is a pure office user (a law firm, an agency, a software company with no hardware), we will usually show you DUMBO’s loft office buildings, Downtown Brooklyn or the creative office at Industry City alongside it, so you can see the trade-offs honestly.

How applying for space at a city-run campus generally works

Every NYCEDC property has its own procedures, and those procedures change. What follows is the general shape of the process as we explain it to clients. Treat it as a starting point and confirm the current steps with NYCEDC before you build a schedule around it.

1. Define the requirement first. Square footage range, ceiling height, floor load, power, ventilation, loading, number of employees now and in three years, and a realistic move date. A vague request moves slowly at a public landlord.
2. Make the inquiry. Tenants generally start by contacting the campus leasing team at NYCEDC, describing the business and the space needed. We can prepare that package with you.
3. Expect a business review. Be ready to describe operations, products, workforce and growth plans. Some form of financial information is typical for any commercial landlord and should be expected here as well.
4. Tour and test fit. If space is available, tour it with your operations lead and, ideally, your contractor or engineer. We check freight paths, power and code issues on the tour, using our construction background.
5. Negotiate terms. Rent, term, renewal options, improvement responsibilities and delivery condition get worked out. Some provisions in a city lease may be standardized.
6. Internal approvals and lease execution. Public entities often have internal review steps before a lease is signed. Build that time into your plan.
7. Buildout and move-in. Permits, contractor work and inspections follow. Industrial fit-outs (exhaust, power upgrades, drains) take longer than office work, so start early.

Our advice: run a private-market search in parallel. If the Army Terminal process takes longer than your business can wait, you want a fallback in Sunset Park, Red Hook or Gowanus already scouted.

Getting staff and customers to the 58th Street waterfront

The Army Terminal sits on the water at the western edge of Sunset Park, below the Gowanus Expressway. It is not on top of a subway station, and that matters for hiring. Before you commit, map a real commute for the people you employ as well as for the owners.

Subway: the R at 59th Street

The closest station is 59th Street on Fourth Avenue. The R train stops there, and the N runs express through the station as well. From the station you walk downhill toward the waterfront, under the expressway and across busy truck streets. It is manageable, but it is a real walk in winter. Shuttle service between the station and the campus has been offered at various times; confirm what is running when you are making your decision.

NYC Ferry at the terminal

NYC Ferry has a landing at the Brooklyn Army Terminal on the South Brooklyn route, which connects the Sunset Park waterfront with points along the Brooklyn shoreline and Lower Manhattan. For staff living in lower Manhattan or along the Brooklyn waterfront, the ferry can be the most pleasant way in. Ferry schedules and routes change, so check the current map and weekend service before you count on it.

Driving and trucks

The Gowanus Expressway (I-278) runs right past the neighborhood, which is why distributors and food companies like this stretch of waterfront. First Avenue and Second Avenue carry a lot of truck traffic. Parking on the campus and on surrounding streets should be discussed during your tour; do not assume employee parking is included.

Freight, loading and building systems we check on every tour

The original design was about moving cargo, and the buildings still have heavy freight capacity by Brooklyn standards. But a 1919 warehouse converted for modern tenants is not uniform. Two suites in the same building can have very different loading access and utility capacity. This is where our contractor background earns its keep.

Deep floor plates are the other thing to watch. These were storage floors, so some areas sit far from any window. That is fine for production, less fine for office staff. A good test fit puts people near the light and machines in the middle.

Army Terminal vs Industry City, Bush Terminal and the Navy Yard

Clients considering the Army Terminal are almost always comparing it with other large historic industrial campuses. Here is how we frame the main differences. Each campus has its own leasing team and policies, and everything below is general; confirm current terms at each one.

Our rule of thumb: if your business is production-heavy and you are comfortable with a public process, the Army Terminal and the Navy Yard belong on the short list. If you want a faster, more conventional private lease with more amenity and foot traffic, Industry City and private Sunset Park buildings usually move quicker. Plenty of clients tour all of them before deciding.

Zoning, waterfront and flood questions

The Sunset Park waterfront is manufacturing-zoned and is one of the City’s designated Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas, which reflects the City’s long-standing goal of keeping it industrial. For a tenant, the more pressing questions are building-specific: whether your use is permitted in the building and covered by the certificate of occupancy, and whether the suite sits in a mapped flood zone.

Parts of the Brooklyn waterfront are inside FEMA flood zones. Ask where electrical gear and critical equipment sit, whether your ground-floor space has ever flooded, and what your insurer will require. Rules and flood maps get updated; confirm current requirements before you sign, and talk to your insurance broker early.

Brooklyn Army Terminal tenant checklist

• Written space requirement: size range, clear height, floor load, power, exhaust, plumbing, loading.
• Headcount today and in three years, plus a description of your operations for the business review.
• Recent financial statements ready to share on request.
• Staff commute map from the R and N at 59th Street, the ferry and by car.
• Confirmation of which dock and freight elevator serve your suite, and their hours.
• Electrical, mechanical and plumbing capacity checked by your engineer or contractor.
• Certificate of occupancy reviewed against your use.
• Flood zone status and insurance requirements for the suite.
• Clear allocation of who builds and pays for improvements.
• A realistic timeline that includes internal approvals and permits.
• A private-market fallback in Sunset Park or nearby.

How DiBe Real Estate represents tenants here

We work for the tenant only. For an Army Terminal search that usually means three things. First, we build the requirement with you and write it up so it reads well to a public landlord. Second, we tour with a builder’s eye: Sal DiBenedetto is a Florida Certified General Contractor and licensed plumbing contractor with hands-on development experience in Brooklyn, including Gowanus, so we look hard at freight, power, drains and exhaust before you get attached to a space. Third, we run a parallel search of private options so you have leverage and a backup.

If you go forward, we can also help coordinate the buildout through our project management and owner’s representation services. Start with our tenant representation overview, or contact us with your use, size and timing. Call or text 239-256-5005.

A hypothetical: a growing food producer weighs the terminal

For example, picture a hypothetical sauce and condiment company that has outgrown a shared commercial kitchen in another part of Brooklyn. It wants its own production room, cold storage and a dock it can count on every morning, and it expects to add production staff over the next few years.

On paper, the Army Terminal fits: the City wants food manufacturing jobs, the freight capacity is real and the Gowanus Expressway is close. In our process we would build the requirement, prepare the inquiry and business summary, and tour available suites with the company’s operations manager and an engineer. On those tours we would focus on exhaust routing for cooking, floor drains, grease handling, power for kettles and refrigeration, and which dock serves the suite.

At the same time, we would tour two or three private food-ready spaces in Sunset Park and nearby neighborhoods. If the city process lines up with the company’s timeline, great. If it does not, the company already knows its next best option and what it costs. That is the pattern we recommend for any Army Terminal search. This example is illustrative only and does not describe a real client or deal.

Lease points to settle before you sign

Whatever the landlord, a few terms decide whether an industrial lease works for your business. Get each in writing: delivery condition of the space, who pays for and owns improvements, the length of term and any renewal options, expansion rights if you expect to grow, restrictions on use and hours, operating cost pass-throughs, insurance requirements, and what restoration is required when you leave. A city lease may standardize some of these. Know which ones before you plan your budget. Lease language has legal consequences, so have a New York real estate attorney review the document.