WeWork's Dock 72 to Add 4,000 Workers to Brooklyn Navy Yard

Meet the latest force accelerating Brooklyn’s tech boom. The Navy Yard, WeWork, and their new developer friends confirmed yesterday that they’re building a giant 675,000-square-foot workspace on a slim peninsula jutting into Wallabout Bay between dry docks.

The newfangled office structure, named Dock 72, was designed by S9 Architecture and looks a bit like an enormous, futuristic ant farm. When we first wrote about an earlier version of the rendering, we wondered if it was a speculative design.

But Boston Properties (the country’s largest office-developer) and Rudin Development (a family-owned operation with about 14 million square feet of holdings) have signed on to make it a reality by late 2017.

Oh, and the price tag? $380 million.

From left: Chair of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Hank Gutman, CEO of Boston Properties Owen Thomas, and the Managing Partners of Rudin Development, Eric and Bill Rudin

But what can you expect when you’re creating a space with luxurious 14-foot ceilings, a health and wellness center, massage room, specialty food sellers, and valet bicycle parking — all cradled within a sleek LEAD Gold-certified building?

Satellite photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Navy Yard (Arrow added by Brownstoner)

Historical photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Future site of Dock 72 towards the upper left

The gracious amenities were in part the brainchild of Dock 72’s anchor tenant, WeWork, a $10 billion company that provides access to coworking space for as little as $45 a month. The company, slated to occupy 220,000 square feet of the new building, had a hand in its design.

WeWork co-founders Miguel McKelvy and Adam Neumann

We knew WeWork way back when. Years ago, the founders created their first coworking company, Green Desk, at 68 Jay Street in Dumbo where Brownstoner has its offices. McKelvy and Neumann sold Green Desk in 2009 and immediately reinvested the money in their new venture: WeWork. Now, WeWork is a global phenomenon that’s returned to Brooklyn.

And they’re nabbing office space left and right. In August WeWork committed to leasing 90,000 square feet of 81 Prospect Street and then doubled-down in April for another 72,000 square feet next door at 77 Sands Street. Both buildings are part of Jared Kushner’s Dumbo Heights.

Rendering of Dumbo Heights

Is WeWork using Dumbo Heights as a layover until their fancy new building is finished? We aren’t so sure. The company is notoriously space-hungry and gobbled-up more than half a million square feet of Manhattan office space in just the past year.

Downtown Brooklyn needs more office space. A report released by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership earlier this year found that commercial vacancy rates in the area are at 3.4% — half that of Midtown south.

Dock 72’s total square footage is nearly a third smaller than that of the entire Dumbo Heights complex, but it will still be one of the city’s largest new commercial buildings built outside of Manhattan in recent history. When fully operational, it will support 4,000 new workers.

WeWork Brooklyn Project Gets Backing From Big Developers [Bloomberg]
A New Office Building for the Brooklyn Navy Yard [WSJ]
First Look: WeWork/WeLive’s New Building At The Brooklyn Navy Yard [YIMBY]
Where Will WeWork? [The Awl]
Website for Dock 72
S9 Architecture Coverage [Brownstoner]
Dumbo Heights Coverage [Brownstoner]

Dock 72 rendering at top courtesy of S9 Architecture