CREATING AN INNOVATION DISTRICT

While working at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, our team was presented in 2012 with a clear directive to help turn around Downtown Brooklyn’s commercial vacancy rate, which was trending in the wrong direction. We employed a strategy that combined deep understanding of the real estate market – and the levers that would influence it – with a marketing and placemaking effort that helped position the Brooklyn Tech Triangle as the leading cluster of New York City tech activity outside of Manhattan.

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle Strategic Plan involved a year-long community engagement process that included surveys of local and national tech companies; meetings with more than 300 stakeholders, including 90 focus group participants; guidance from an advisory committee of 27 government offices and agencies, as well as a task force of 36 local companies and organizations. The resulting Strategic Plan synthesized the findings of the public outreach process into a 90-page set of recommendations related to real estate, transportation planning, workforce development, and placemaking that has led to significant job growth and economic impact in the area.

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle is now home to 1,350 innovation companies employing 17,300 people – an increase of 22% and 45%, respectively, from 2012 to 2015. Overall, that led to a growth of $3 billion in Brooklyn's GDP during the same time period.