Image: The Marino Organization

The adaptive reuse of the 150-year-old historic former Marine Commandant’s House now known as Building 92 will include the addition of a modern extension complete with leasable space, educational and community rooms, a rooftop café, special events space and a landscaped courtyard.

The funds were recently announced by State Senate Majority Conference Leader John L. Sampson and Senators Velmanette Montgomery and Daniel Squadron. The projects will combine to create about 300 jobs. Currently, there are more than 30 green manufacturers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard employing 350 people.

One of the projects includes the adaptive reuse of three late 19th century connected former WWII machine shops’ concrete foundations and steel frames to create the $30 million, 220,000-sq-ft multi-tenanted Green Manufacturing Center which will add new space to meet the continuing demand of industrial businesses. The center will also include one of New York State’s largest solar panel installations. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation will use $10.5 million in state funding. The balance of construction funding will come from pending grants and private financing.

Construction will begin in Spring 2010 and is expected to take 18 months to complete.

The remaining $4.5 million will also support the construction of an exhibition and visitor center, the $19.5 million Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92. The balance of capital funding for the restoration of Building 92, which is to be built to LEED Platinum standards, includes $10 million from the New York City Council, $2.5million from the State Environmental Protection Fund and other state and local sources. BNYDC has received lead private funding from the Brooklyn Community Foundation and a planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities toward exhibition design and fabrication. Work on the 27,000-sq-ft facility will begin in mid-October and be completed in mid-2011.

For both projects, BNYDC has set aggressive goals for minority and women-owned businesses participation as well as local workforce participation.

“The Brooklyn Navy Yard represents the best that Brooklyn has to offer,” said Senator Squadron. “With its attention to both job creation and green development, the Navy Yard is a great model for a diverse, 21st century New York.”

The Green Manufacturing Center and exhibition and visitor center at Building 92 continues the rapid expansion already underway at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the largest growth since WWII adding over 1.5 million sq ft of new space and 2,000 jobs over the next two years. In April, Mayor Bloomberg opened the three-story, 89,000-sq-ft Perry Building, the nation’s first multi-story green industrial facility and announced plans for Duggal Greenhouse, a 60,000-sq-ft green building that will be used to manufacture eco-friendly products. In addition, three more green buildings are in design and will begin construction during the next 12 months. Furthermore, a request for proposals is our seeking a developer for a retail center anchored by a large-format supermarket for a six-acre site on the Navy Yard’s perimeter.

“The Brooklyn Navy Yard – already one of the most successful industrial parks in the nation – continues to grow as a center for green manufacturers,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a statement. “The $15 million investment in the redevelopment of two facilities and creation of nearly 300 green jobs will pay enormous dividends as the Navy Yard continues to expand.”