The development of Metrotech and Downtown Brooklyn

During the early days of the development of Metrotech in Downtown Brooklyn, many believed that this transformation of the region could mirror the West Coast ‘Silicon Valley.’ According to the Daily News Article, what Silicon Valley is to California, Metrotech will be for the Downtown Brooklyn area. The article highlights the fact that even after much pushback and protest from the residents of the downtown neighborhood, the Board of Estimate “approved” the $770 million office development plan in downtown Brooklyn. According to the article, approximately 250 people occupying 100 apartments within the area would be relocated to neighborhoods in close proximity and up to 60 businesses meeting the same fate. The promise was ambitious however, guaranteeing the creation of a whopping 14,000 jobs and the retention of hundreds of previous ones.

The objective of the development of Metrotech was to ultimately improve the downtown Brooklyn area, introducing a legitimate campus with state of the art facilities for the hosted institution. These new state of the art facilities include a library, center for advanced telecommunications technologies, space for Polytechnic’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. Metrotech also provided close proximity to some extremely valuable technology companies on the campus, enabling the possibility of across-campus internship and co-op opportunities for students. 

The overall cost of Metrotech as real-estate was estimated to cost approximately $800 million - $620 million was appointed to the construction of commercial buildings around the campus. The main parties that contributed financially to this massive budget for the development of metrotech include Polytechnic Institute, The City and State of New York, and Forest City Enterprises. This massive budget allowed for Polytechnic to practically double its space in the Downtown Brooklyn area, with an increase from 400,000 square feet to a whopping 900,000 square feet at the time (1988). A 3.5 acre commons area will also be included in the development, available to the Polytechnic Institute and the commercial businesses that make up Metrotech, which Polytechnic was required to contribute $2 million to. This contribution to the project was funded over the course of several years and came directly from the revenue of the institute. A portion of each student's tuition, which fell under the revenue of the school, was designed to help pay off part of the project - $60 from each student’s tuition was directly contributed. Over time, the developmental success of Metrotech attracted the likes of foundational, corporate, and individual donors, which over time helped mitigate cost. 

Groundbreaking was estimated to begin in 1989 for the library and Polytechnic’s first completed building was estimated to be ready by 1991.

Letters against development of Metrotech. Accounts were taken from the likes of residents, artists, employees, business owners in the area, and even political figures. 

The goal of Metrotech was to host 11 different buildings: 8 completely new buildings and 3 highly renovated buildings, all of which were positioned around the Metrotech commons. Each building ranged in size from 260,000 square feet to 1,000,000 square feet and beyond. This development would expand up to 10 blocks and 16 acres, bounded by north of Tillary street and Tech Place, south of Willoughby Street, east of Flatbush Avenue, and west of Jay Street. The economic impact would be very substantial: a promise of over 14,000 new jobs with an annual cumulative payroll of over $230 million and accumulate over $54 million in tax revenues. The construction process of was divided into two phases:

Phase 1: the renovation of an academic building, 372,000 square feet in size, and the complete development of commercial office space, retail space, library space, an academic and telecommunication research center, and a parking lot with a 445 car capacity. SIAC will occupy a portion of a new 10 story office building of 500,000 square feet, bringing along over 700 jobs and creating roughly 300 new jobs. Brooklyn Union Gas will occupy a 450,000 square foot 23 story building, bringing roughly 1400 jobs. 

Phase 2: the development of 2.7 million square feet of commercial space and academic space, 140,000 square feet of retail space, and the complete construction of a parking lot with a capacity of 1600 cars. 

The complete cost of development is estimated to be around $1 billion, with $48 million of that being funded by the Polytechnic Institute. The term of the lease between the developers and the New York City Public Development Corporation is 99 years. 

In order for this development plan to succeed however, many residents and commercial businesses would have to be forcibly relocated. Over 200 residents occupying roughly 150 different living quarters and 60 businesses had to be relocated. Traditional relocation services from the city have been combined with Metrotech-specific services to form a solid relocation program. This includes, but is not limited to, the renovation of 18 rental units for low-income residents and senior citizens located in the Metrotech site, the renovation of 42-46 units in Prospect Heights for low-income residents, the introduction of 146 condominium units for low income residents in Park Slope, eligible relocatees get priority listing for renovated in-rem apartments, eligible relocatees get priority listing for public housing, and commercial tenants will work with the City’s Revitalization Program to conduct the proper relocations.