Wegman's to open 1st NYC store in Brooklyn
Cult favorite grocery chain Wegman's is coming to New York City, with plasn to build a massive store in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. on Tuesday announced redevelopment plans for Admirals Row that will bring a long-anticipated supermarket, new manufacturing space and a brand new community facility to the site. Wegmans Food Markets will anchor the $140 million redevelopment of Admirals Row led by Steiner NYC, the developer of Steiner Studios.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have Wegmans stores in our shopping centers for many years,” said Douglas Steiner, chairman of Steiner NYC and Steiner Studios. “We’re thrilled to now be bringing Wegmans to New York City. Their workforce is treated right and has real opportunities for advancement. The result is that the employees are Wegmans’ secret sauce — they’re motivated to give customers a great shopping experience: great prices, great quality, and great service. I guess that’s why they employ twice as many people in their stores as their competition. Which in turn means more jobs for the diverse local neighborhoods they serve. They are simply the best supermarket in all respects.”
“The Brooklyn Navy Yard is proud to deliver on its promise to bring a supermarket to this neighborhood,” said BNYDC president and CEO David Ehrenberg. “But not just any grocery store. Wegmans is widely recognized as the country’s best supermarket for its affordable, quality food and is also recognized as the best retail employer in the country. And one of the reasons we selected them was because their employee compensation is consistently equal to or better than other food retailers in markets where they have stores. With Wegmans and the entire redevelopment of Admirals Row, local residents will gain needed amenities and the Brooklyn Navy Yard will further its mission to create good-paying, high-quality jobs for area residents. We look forward to working with Wegmans, Steiner NYC, and our community on this meaningful project.”
“It is a thrill to bring Wegmans to Brooklyn, along with hundreds of new jobs. Our family started this company in 1916, and we built our business by always putting the needs of our employees first,” said Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman. “Our employees are part of our family, and they are the reason for our success. We are proud to be part of this exciting project and look forward to providing the very best quality and selection, consistent low prices, and incredible customer service to the local and wider Brooklyn community.”
Wegmans will spend more than $2 million to recruit and train its workforce, and will utilize BNYDC’s Employment Center at BLDG 92 to recruit area residents for the jobs it will create. BNYDC’s local hiring plan includes collaboration with resident leaders from the local New York City Housing Authority buildings and other community stakeholders, and includes setting up employment centers in the nearby NYCHA developments.
The development of the Admirals Row site is projected to create more than 1,200 permanent jobs. Wegmans will initially hire 450 people, including 150 people in full-time positions. It is projected that the number of full-time positions may grow to as many as 250, with as many as 600 total jobs expected - twice the overall supermarket jobs and more than three times the full-time positions offered by other proposals vying for the site.
BNYDC has also established aggressive community participation goals for the construction of the Admirals Row site, including 30% of the overall contract values awarded to certified minority/women-owned businesses and 15% of contracts targeted to local businesses within Brooklyn. Workforce goals for the construction phase of the project include 45% of jobs to be held by minority and/or women and a local workforce goal of 25% within local zip codes.
In addition to the 74,000-square-foot supermarket, Steiner will develop 78,000 square feet of retail space, 126,000 square feet of light industrial space, and 7,000 square feet of community facility space. In order to accommodate ongoing demand, BNYDC has secured an option to build 100,000 square feet of additional light industrial space above a parking facility as well.
"The evolution of the Brooklyn Navy Yard into an engine for 21st century opportunity has taken another important step forward with the redevelopment of Admirals Row. The new Admirals Row will address many of the challenges facing the communities surrounding the Brooklyn Navy Yard, including long-term food insecurity and access to local hiring opportunities in the retail and industrial sectors,” said Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams.
The designation of Steiner NYC for the site follows a request for proposals that was issued by BNYDC last year. Work on the site, which also includes restoration of two of the site’s historic structures, is expected to begin later this year.
The 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard, the leading industrial park in New York City with 3.5 million square feet of leasable space in 40 buildings housing over 300 businesses, is fully occupied. The city-owned Navy Yard is currently undergoing its largest expansion since WWII and is on track to deliver more than 2 million square feet of new space and up to 9,000 additional jobs in the next five years. Employment in the Yard has increased from 3,500 jobs in 2001 to over 7,000 jobs today.