Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) has been selected by the New York Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC) as the first awardee of the city’s Industrial Developer Fund. With the support of the fund, GMDC will create a 90,000 square-foot workspace in the Ozone Park neighborhood in Queens.

According to the NYEDC, the new workspace will be designed for small and medium-sized industrial and light manufacturing businesses, and will be LEED-certified, partially solar-powered, and equipped with new freight elevators and new electrical infrastructure, among other features.

“Now more than ever, we must ensure that our economy is diverse, equitable, and provides opportunity for all New Yorkers. Supporting the industrial sector is critical to that effort,” said NYCEDC President Maria Torres-Springer.

The new workspace will support 24 new businesses and 80 workers earning an estimated average of $51,500 per year, which is consistent with tenants in other GMDC-developed sites. Queensborough president Melinda Katz praised GMDC for its approach to equitable economic development, calling it “a great model for how to better assist smaller manufacturing companies and keep those jobs in New York.”

Since 1992, GMDC has rehabilitated seven industrial buildings in New York City to provide affordable and flexible production space for small and medium-sized manufacturers. The GMDC Ozone Park Industrial Center will be geared toward tenants similar to those of other GMDC projects, including custom woodworkers, set builders, metal workers, and home goods manufacturers, among others. GMDC will receive $10 million from the Industrial Development Fund, and a $3.7 million loan from NYEDC to get the $37 million project off the ground.