The Brooklyn Navy Yard

What The Brooklyn Navy Yard does

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1966 that serves as the real estate developer and property manager of the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard on behalf of its owner, the City of New York. The organization manages approximately 6.5 million square feet of predominantly industrial space across 60 manufacturing buildings with 11 docks and piers, leasing to 550+ businesses that collectively employ 13,000 workers across advanced manufacturing, food and beverage, fashion, media production, prototyping, clean energy, and robotics sectors. Its stated mission is to fuel New York City's economic vitality by creating and preserving quality jobs, growing the city's modern industrial sector, and connecting the surrounding community with the Yard's economic opportunities.

BNYDC's product portfolio spans commercial real estate leasing, event venue rentals (Building 77 for 1,000-5,000 guests, Building 92 for 5-200 attendees), the Market @77 Food Hall, public walking and bike tours operated through Turnstile Tours, the Yard Opportunity Shop retail incubator for M/WBE small businesses, and the BNYDC Archives. Workforce development is a major vertical: the Albert C. Wiltshire Employment Center places local residents with Yard tenants and has placed over 2,500 individuals in jobs; CNC Machine Operator Training and EV Charging Technician Training (launching late 2026/early 2027) deliver NIMS and Master CAM certifications; paid internship programs include the Brooklyn STEAM Center and Green Careers Accelerator. The Yard Labs program operates the campus as a paid urban testbed for piloting emerging technologies in decarbonization, climate adaptation, micromobility, and resiliency. The organization also runs a public art program, the permanent Past Present and Future exhibition, and the annual Wallabout Wonderland Holiday Market.

BNYDC's revenue model combines recurring below-market rental income with diversified supplementary streams: event venue fees, film and photo shoot rentals, Market @77 food and beverage sales, tour ticket revenue, retail incubator rents, and tenant amenity services. Tenants receive real estate tax exemptions, REAP income tax credits for job relocations, ECSP energy cost savings up to 45%, and Opportunity Zone benefits unavailable at private NYC industrial properties. The organization supplements operating revenue with government grants from Empire State Development, the New York Power Authority, the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the Brooklyn Borough President, and the City Council. The current strategic agenda is anchored by a $2.5 billion master plan to develop 5.1 million square feet of vertical manufacturing space and grow on-site employment to 30,000 jobs.

Name

The Brooklyn Navy Yard

Legal name

Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation

Website

https://brooklynnavyyard.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

BNYDC is a New York City not-for-profit corporation managing the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard, leasing industrial, creative, and retail space to 550+ businesses and 13,000 workers. It operates workforce training, retail incubation, food hall, and event programs while executing a $2.5 billion master plan targeting 30,000 jobs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Commercial Real Estate Leasing: BNYDC serves as the real estate developer and property manager for the Brooklyn Navy Yard on behalf of the City of New York. Revenue is generated through leasing industrial, manufacturing, creative office, wholesale, and distribution spaces to businesses. Tenants receive below-market rents and real estate tax exemptions.
2. Event Venue Rentals: Revenue from renting event spaces including Building 77 for large-scale outdoor events (1,000-5,000 capacity) and Building 92 for small to mid-size meetings, trainings, and social gatherings (5-200 capacity). Film and photo shoot location rentals also generate income.
3. Government Grants and Funding: BNYDC receives government funding including $450,000 from NYPA for EV charging workforce training, $300,000 from Brooklyn Borough President for Yard Opportunity Shop, and various grants from Empire State Development and Downtown Revitalization Initiative for infrastructure improvements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

BNYDC is the not-for-profit real estate developer and property manager of the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard on behalf of the City of New York, leasing industrial, manufacturing, creative office, wholesale, and distribution space to more than 550 businesses at below-market rents with real estate tax exemptions. Beyond leasing, BNYDC operates an on-site Employment Center, the Market @77 food hall, the Yard Opportunity Shop retail incubator, Yard Labs applied-innovation pilot program, public tours, event venue rentals, and workforce training (CNC Operator and EV Charging Technician) programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial and Industrial Leasing Leasing of diverse commercial and industrial spaces at below-market rents with real estate tax exemptions and REAP/ECSP/Opportunity Zone benefits, serving advanced manufacturing, creative office, wholesale, distribution, and production tenants.
• Market @77 Food Hall A daily 8am-8pm food hall on the ground floor of Building 77 featuring curated food vendors, some of which manufacture wholesale products on-site, open to Yard workers, tenants, and the public.
• Yard Opportunity Shop (YOS) Retail Incubator A rotating 3-month retail pop-up incubator providing M/WBE small businesses with affordable access to retail space, infrastructure, and support in Building 92, with public shopping hours Wednesday-Sunday.
• Yard Labs Applied Innovation Pilot Program An applied-innovation program that partners with mission-driven companies to pilot new technologies addressing urban challenges in decarbonization, resiliency, climate adaptation, micromobility, and efficient transport across the campus.
• Albert C. Wiltshire Employment Center Free on-campus workforce services connecting local job seekers with Yard businesses through job placement, resume preparation, interview coaching, career development, and internship pathways.
• Public Tours Ticketed public guided tours of the 300-acre campus including Past Present & Future, Architecture & Infrastructure, The Yard & WWII, and Urban Ecology Bike Tours, plus private group tours on request.
• Private Events and Film Shoot Venue Rentals Event space rentals at Building 77 (1,000-5,000 guests, large outdoor events) and Building 92 (5-200 attendees, meetings/trainings/social gatherings), plus film and photo shoot location rentals.
• CNC Machine Operator and Programmer Training Free hands-on training program providing specialized CNC machining skills and preparation for NIMS and Master CAM certifications for local job seekers.
• EV Charging Technician Training Program A 16-week part-time (160-hour) workforce training program preparing New Yorkers for careers maintaining and repairing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, delivered at the Smart Lab with three cohorts of 20 participants each.
• Paid Internship Programs Paid internship programs (Spring, Summer, Fall) plus the Green Careers Accelerator, connecting college students and college-bound high school seniors to opportunities with Yard businesses.
• Brooklyn STEAM Center A NYC Department of Education high school program located on the Yard campus that provides students with educational pathways connected to modern manufacturing and technology careers.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 2,500 individuals placed in jobs through Employment Center
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Pratt InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Partnership with Pratt Institute's graduate course Project in the Public Realm, taught by Adjunct Professor Jean Shin. Students Tanvi Shaha and Joris Van Helmond created Brooklyn: Layered Lenses installation at Building 92, exploring Brooklyn's interconnected systems of production, commons, and spectacle.
• Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026BNYDC partnered with McKinney Secondary School of the Arts for the Brooklyn Becomes public art installation. Thirty-three student submissions were received with nineteen works selected for a 100-foot photo mesh installation. Organized around five themes including Journeys, Pathways & Discovery and Hi-Tech & Imagined Futures.
• WXY architecture + urban designcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 May 2026WXY architecture + urban design designed the Cumberland Street Gate project, improving pedestrian access, clarifying truck and vehicle movement, and creating a 2,500 square foot landscaped public space. The project is part of the broader Gates and Wayfinding initiative and Master Plan Exercise.
• Hunter Roberts Construction GroupminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 5 May 2026Hunter Roberts served as construction manager for the Cumberland Gate project, working closely with BNYDC and the design team to bring the vision to life. Created new outdoor spaces while strengthening the Brooklyn Navy Yard's bond with the local community.
• SmarterHelpcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 April 2026BNYDC partnered with SmarterHelp to develop and launch a workforce training program focused on maintaining and repairing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. SmarterHelp will deliver training at the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Smart Lab, marking the company's first initiative in New York City. Training is expected to begin later this year following facility buildout.
• Turnstile TourscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 6 June 2025Turnstile Tours operates public tours of the Brooklyn Navy Yard including Past, Present & Future walking tours (Saturdays), Architecture & Infrastructure Tours (Sundays), WWII Tours, and Urban Ecology Bike Tours. Tours provide visitors access to the 300-acre campus.
• NYC Ferry (Astoria Route)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024NYC Ferry's Astoria Route stops at the Yard's Dock 72, providing direct water transportation access for workers, visitors, and deliveries to the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC): City-affiliated economic development organization overseeing industrial and commercial development across NYC — broad incumbent doing similar mission-driven economic development at citywide scale rather than focused on a single campus.
• Empire State Development: New York State's primary economic development agency that funds BNYDC and similar projects — relevant as an ecosystem partner and funder, not as a direct operating competitor.

Direct peers

• Industry City: A 35-acre mixed-use industrial campus on the Brooklyn waterfront with comparable food halls, event spaces, creative office, light manufacturing, and retail tenants — the closest direct analog to BNYDC's mixed industrial/commercial campus model in NYC.
• Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center: Nonprofit industrial park operator in Brooklyn providing below-market manufacturing and creative space to M/WBE and industrial tenants, with a closely aligned nonprofit-leasing model and mission-driven tenant support.
• Navy Yard (Philadelphia): Redeveloped former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard into a 1,200-acre mixed industrial and commercial campus managed by a quasi-governmental authority — directly comparable as a former naval-yard industrial redevelopment.

Emerging players

• The Plant (Chicago): Nonprofit urban food and manufacturing business incubator in Chicago supporting sustainable industry tenants — comparable mission-aligned small-scale urban manufacturing incubator model.

Regional players

• Hunters Point Shipyard (San Francisco): Former naval shipyard in San Francisco converted to mixed-use development with industrial and creative tenants — comparable historic waterfront redevelopment in a different regional market with similar regulatory and economic development dynamics.
• Pier 70 (San Francisco): Historic waterfront industrial redevelopment in San Francisco with mixed-use manufacturing, creative office, and public space programming — parallels BNYDC's blend of historic adaptive reuse and modern industrial tenants.
• Mare Island (Vallejo, California): Former naval shipyard in Vallejo redeveloped for industrial, commercial, and creative use — illustrates how a decommissioned yard can be repositioned, though with a different regional industrial base.

Others

• Chelsea Market (NYC): Adaptive reuse of a former industrial building in Manhattan into a food hall and office campus — comparable event/food/programming revenue layer, though organized around retail and food rather than industrial tenants.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/brooklynnavyyard
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brooklyn-navy-yard-development-corporation
• Instagraminstagram.com/bklynnavyyard
• Xx.com/bklynnavyyard

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Brooklyn Navy Yard