Affordable Housing in Pfizer Site's Future?
Pharma giant Pfizer announced yesterday that it would be shuttering the Flushing Avenue plant where the company commenced operations 156 years ago towards the end of next year. Along with concern about the closing’s impact on the location’s 600 workers came speculation about its real estate implications. In addition to the 660,000-square-foot plant betwen Marcy…
Pharma giant Pfizer announced yesterday that it would be shuttering the Flushing Avenue plant where the company commenced operations 156 years ago towards the end of next year. Along with concern about the closing’s impact on the location’s 600 workers came speculation about its real estate implications. In addition to the 660,000-square-foot plant betwen Marcy and Tompkins, the company own another 15 acres of land nearby, including the site of the charter school it launched recently. The availablity of a site this size provides Mayor Bloomberg with a rare opportunity to achieve his affordable housing goals. The area would have to be rezoned for residential, but the Mayor said yesterday that he planned to pursue that course of action. As for Pfizer? “We will look for a solution in keeping with the surrounding neighborhoods,” a spokesman said. What would you like to see done with the site?
Shutting Doors Where a Drug-Making Giant Began [NY Times]
Pfizer to Axe Brooklyn Plant [NY Post]
Pfizer Job Cuts May Mean Loss Of Tax Breaks [NY Sun]
Photo by hi-lo
Please, no “affordable” housing. This area has met the quota for affordable housing–the Tompkins Houses, Marcy Houses, and Sumner Houses are all in the vicinity. I live a couple of blocks from this plant, and I hope the plant is converted into condos. HIGH END CONDOS. I love the “ZoLofts” name!
This would make a great location for a high end meth lab.
ex-Redhooky – nice thought but . . . 1. Pfizer sucks at R&D – which is why the plant is closing, no new drugs to make there. 2. The mix of jobs required for R&D is very different than what the plant supported. I worked there for 5 years, so I’m well aware of that. Everyone at the plant saw this coming. That’s why I left last June. But I really feel for the people who worked the lines. These are probably some of the last high paying manufacturing jobs in Brooklyn. Those workers are facing relocation or much lower wages. The site had such a strong sense of community. It’s just so sad!
more projects please
Why don’t we put the Nets arena there?
The loss of 600 jobs is a huge blow to local workers. Too bad Pfizer didn’t see some PR value in keeping their original location functioning.
When I saw that announcement on the news, my first though was how long before the building goes high priced condo?
ex-Redhooky, that is a brilliant and unique idea.
No! Not mixed use, not housing, none of that. Look beyond your only little obsession for just one minute.
The site should be made available to one of the city’s universities. Pfizer could probably write the whole thing off and the city could create the Pfizer Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology or whatever. Many of the people that work there now could probably find some sort of associated employment and the city would not lose a high-tech resource.