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Last week the Design Trust hosted Making NYC: A Roundtable Discussion on NYC's booming design/production economy. The topic is near and dear to our hearts, but we curated this event for NYCxDesign- NYC's inaugural citywide event to showcase and promote design of all disciplines.
Making NYC convened the heavy hitters of our manufacturing economy to discuss the production hubs and incubators popping up across NYC. While the topic was inspired by Design Trust's Making Midtown project, the panel placed the Garment District into the broader realm of manufacturing in the City by including Brooklyn Navy Yard president & CEO Andrew Kimball, NYCEDC director of industrial initiatives, Miquela Craytor, and the CEO & founder of Manufacture NY, Bob Bland.
Thanks to our quick-thinking moderator Cliff Pearson from Architectural Record, the conversation was lively and informative. Interestingly, the panelists quickly turned to the question of affordability. Andrew Kimball pointed out that light industrial use brings in the same price per square foot as affordable housing for developers. This may very well be a major factor in the decline of manufacturing throughout the USA, but especially in NYC where the value of land is extraordinarily high.
Questions addressed by the group: