Sunset has style.
As Industry City continues to grow and look toward the future, the Sunset Park space is adding another retailer to its growing complex — Design Within Reach, a furniture and home décor store founded in 1999 that specializes in modern design ranging from iconic mid-century works to innovative items designed today.
Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball and Design Within Reach CEO John Edelman announced earlier this month that the retailer recently signed a lease that will open a 40,000-square-foot outlet store as well as a repair facility in Industry City.
“We chose Industry City because we wanted to be at the center of Brooklyn’s maker movement and join this community of like-minded designers and makers,” said Edelman in a statement, stressing that he is confident that Industry City, which spans six million square feet, is on the rise. “With hundreds of other creative makers as neighbors, there are ample opportunities for collaboration and synergies.”
Design Within Reach has set its goals higher than just opening shopping areas. The company also plans to include design workshops and programming for home-furnishing designers. In addition, it plans on creating an apprenticeship program to recruit Sunset Park residents for design and home accessory work with the help of nonprofit organizations Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corp., Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow and the Center for Family Life.
The announcement was made around the same time as Kimball revealed Industry City’s plans for a $1 billion redevelopment that is said would create nearly 20,000 jobs.
Kimball is looking forward to the addition. “Our partnership with Design Within Reach is representative of the sort of collaborations we hope to build with all of our tenants to foster local talent and entrepreneurship and to grow the innovation economy,” he said. “Design Within Reach will drive business-to-business activity within our complex as well as create good-paying local jobs.”
Although zoning has posed issues and prevented retailers from operating in Industry City in the past, Design Within Reach will be able to do so since it will include a repair shop and prop rental component.
Kimball and Edelman aren’t the only ones excited about the new project.
“Design Within Reach is a great win for Sunset Park and it brings home the fact that Industry City can succeed without changing the zoning rules,” said Executive Director of Sunset Park Restoration Tony Giordano.