Developers Scrap Plans For Massive Red Hook Waterfront Offices

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — Developers planning to turn a large waterfront property in Red Hook into a seven-acre office campus have scrapped the idea two years after construction started on the project, according to reports.

Thor Equities have been planning since 2016 to build an 800,000-square-foot office complex, named Red Hoek Point, at 280 Richards Street, a plot next to IKEA and Fairway Market that is surrounded by water on three sides.

But now, the developers have shifted gears and will instead create an industrial space on the lot, the Real Deal first reported.

Details about exactly what the industrial space will be used for weren't necessarily clear, but sources told the Real Deal it will be in the form of a "last-mile warehousing site." Thor Equities did not immediately answer a request for comment.

Last-mile warehousing sites are often used by e-commerce companies as distribution centers, according to Curbed.

Thor's original plans had been to build two heavy timber-frame buildings on the property. The three-level buildings would include mostly creative office space, about 795,000 feet, but would also be home to 23,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, according to the developer's website.

The project was also going to feature a public waterfront esplanade and open courtyard designed by SCAPE. The buildings themselves would be designed by Foster and Partners.

Both the Real Deal and Curbed noted that investing in e-commerce-style distribution centers has been a trend among developers in recent years.

A multi-story warehouse is planned for the Maspeth section of Queens on a site that cost more than $70 million and another two-story industrial building near LaGuardia Airport is likely to be built by Blackstone Group, the reports said. A 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center in Sunset Park is also in the works by Dov Hertz.

In Red Hook, a proposal to turn four warehouses into new office space was similarly scrapped by Italian firm Est4te Four, Curbed said. The site has remained industrial.