Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to move to Industry City after 100 years downtown

By Duncan Freeman

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is relocating its headquarters to a 10,200 foot space in Industry City—less than a year after a redevelopment plan to expand Industry City, which the chamber supported, was axed by activists and local politicians.

This new headquarters will provide the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce with 30 percent more space than their current downtown headquarters at 335 Adams Street, where they’ve been based for more than a century. The chamber represents 62,000 businesses that employ over half of Brooklyn’s workforce and will now have more space to help these businesses recover from the effects of the pandemic.

Rents at the 16-building, 6 million square foot Industry City complex range between $15 and $40 per square foot.

“Industry City is truly an economic engine for Brooklyn, and its diverse tenant mix of manufacturing, retail, hospitality, tech, fashion, design, and [minority and women-owned business enterprises] reflects our business community,” Randy Peers, President of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “Plus, its vibrant, amenity-rich environment is strategic for attracting top minds and talent to the organization.”

The campus is home to 550 businesses that employ 8,500 New Yorkers. More than 80 percent of Industry City’s current tenants are micro-businesses that have fewer than 10 employees.

This move comes not long after developers were pressured into abandoning their bid to build an additional 1.4 million square feet of new commercial and industrial spaces over the next 12 years at the Industry City periphery—from 32nd to 41st Streets between Second and Third Avenues. The deal, which was scuppered last fall and had been supported by the Brooklyn Chamber, was effectively killed by local activists from Protect Sunset Park, the environmental-justice group UPROSE, and local city councilman Carlos Menchaca.

At the time, Menchaca argued that the deal would “make it harder for working people to live in Sunset Park.” Developers Jamestown & Local Charleston Developers had wanted to add more hotels, academic buildings, and commercial space that, they argued, would have created thousands of more jobs.

Along with this new move, the chamber announced an expansion of its “Good Help” small business staffing service that will provide recruitment and growth planning support to local small businesses. The Brooklyn Chamber will also host their annual Meeting and Trade Show at Industry City.

“Having the Brooklyn Chamber as an anchor tenant at Industry City is a big deal and testament to our extraordinary growth as a small business mecca and hub for Brooklyn’s Innovation Economy,” said Andrew Kimball, CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. He continued, “The Chamber has always been a workforce development and small business services partner to Industry City and now, with their services on-site, the Chamber will be an even greater asset to our tenants helping countless small businesses thrive in their markets and reach new heights.”