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Central to our client’s vision for their new $235M film and TV production facility, the East End Studio Sunnyside Campus, is to contribute to the up-and-coming Queens, NY, neighborhood’s success. The engagement process prior to financing and development helped position the project for maximum community and program support.
The Sunnyside Campus achieves three key project objectives:
1. City development policy goals
2. Community benefits
3. Energy efficiency
East End Studios teamed with Canyon Partners Real Estate to secure a $193M construction loan and sizeable tax incentives through the NYCIDA for the development of a 340,000-sf, Class-A facility featuring four best-in-class, full-service, ground-floor sound stages, plus a 9,000-sf rooftop flex-stage.
Sunnyside Campus represents a large, new investment in a severely distressed area in Queens, NY.To secure the necessary funding, incentives, and public support, we focused on project attributes best positioned to deliver targeted, measurable results to the local community.
ThinkForward enlisted the help of experts in environmental justice, equitable development, and community engagement. The team met with representative advocacy groups and local businesses and leadership. This pre-development “homework” was rooted in the idea that all projects, including and especially private development, are public-private partnerships if they are to be successful.
Our research fell into three distinct buckets:
1. Developing green facilities to comply with local laws
2. Job creation and other economic development via the NYC film & TV production sector
3. Community benefits
The new Sunnyside Campus project follows stringent energy efficiency measures, as outlined in Local Law 97 to minimize its carbon footprint, and meets critical NYCIDA policy objectives, but its significant community benefits ultimately carried the day! We emphasized the development’s clear advantages for the local community.
· Job creation and money flow to local businesses
· Sales tax revenues and economic development
· Robust workforce pipeline
· Co-working space
We demonstrated through economic modeling and historical data how the project will boost the local economy by creating 750 permanent production/content development jobs and by generating money flow directly to local businesses. For example, we described how the studio space will have direct ties to lumber/woodworking and carpentry, laundry facilities/dry cleaners, electrical work, and food procurement located in the Sunnyside, Queens, community.
Perhaps most rewarding was showing how the project will generate a robust workforce pipeline for related industries and businesses by actively engaging with local enterprises. Potential “partners” include media-focused teen mentoring and workforce readiness programs, like Reel Works, and nonprofits serving minority students, like the award-winning Ghetto Film School.
Central to our client’s vision for their new $235M film and TV production facility, the East End Studio Sunnyside Campus, is to contribute to the up-and-coming Queens, NY, neighborhood’s success. The engagement process prior to financing and development helped position the project for maximum community and program support.
The Sunnyside Campus achieves three key project objectives:
1. City development policy goals
2. Community benefits
3. Energy efficiency
East End Studios teamed with Canyon Partners Real Estate to secure a $193M construction loan and sizeable tax incentives through the NYCIDA for the development of a 340,000-sf, Class-A facility featuring four best-in-class, full-service, ground-floor sound stages, plus a 9,000-sf rooftop flex-stage.
Sunnyside Campus represents a large, new investment in a severely distressed area in Queens, NY.To secure the necessary funding, incentives, and public support, we focused on project attributes best positioned to deliver targeted, measurable results to the local community.
ThinkForward enlisted the help of experts in environmental justice, equitable development, and community engagement. The team met with representative advocacy groups and local businesses and leadership. This pre-development “homework” was rooted in the idea that all projects, including and especially private development, are public-private partnerships if they are to be successful.
Our research fell into three distinct buckets:
1. Developing green facilities to comply with local laws
2. Job creation and other economic development via the NYC film & TV production sector
3. Community benefits
The new Sunnyside Campus project follows stringent energy efficiency measures, as outlined in Local Law 97 to minimize its carbon footprint, and meets critical NYCIDA policy objectives, but its significant community benefits ultimately carried the day! We emphasized the development’s clear advantages for the local community.
· Job creation and money flow to local businesses
· Sales tax revenues and economic development
· Robust workforce pipeline
· Co-working space
We demonstrated through economic modeling and historical data how the project will boost the local economy by creating 750 permanent production/content development jobs and by generating money flow directly to local businesses. For example, we described how the studio space will have direct ties to lumber/woodworking and carpentry, laundry facilities/dry cleaners, electrical work, and food procurement located in the Sunnyside, Queens, community.
Perhaps most rewarding was showing how the project will generate a robust workforce pipeline for related industries and businesses by actively engaging with local enterprises. Potential “partners” include media-focused teen mentoring and workforce readiness programs, like Reel Works, and nonprofits serving minority students, like the award-winning Ghetto Film School.
NYC agencies are encouraging investments in IndustrialBusiness Zones (IBZ).This is good news for real estate developers and building owners hoping to attract manufacturing and light industrial tenants through redevelopment of their properties. Financial assistance through the NYCIndustrial Development Agency (NYCIDA) can make a sizeable contribution to most capital stacks.
For many organizations, delaying a project means delaying future success. Tax credits and economic incentives can help fund the next step forward in any mission-driven organization’s growth and evolution. Considering the life line that these programs can represent, let’s take a few moments to understand what incentives are and how to tap into the potential for your company.
The private, nonprofit agency Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) provides a wide array of workforce preparation, industry-specific training, and employment services for 70,000+ NYC workers every year. Union members, new Americans, and dislocated workers number among the populations served by this essential service provider.
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