Real Estate Blog

New York’s fifth bureau has often been left out of the rampant development plans that have surged throughout the city in recent years. With recent discussions and announcements about the new Ferris Wheel that will be built near the St. George Ferry Terminal, this is changing quickly. Combined with other development efforts, Staten Island is seeing an influx of city projects that could change it in a number of ways. 

One such change, recently announced by the City’s Economic Development Corporation seeks to build a new business incubator in easy travel distance from the Ferry terminal by bus or train. The goal of this will be to find a development project or developer that can create an incubator - like many of the business-friendly spaces located throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens - with funds totaling between $100,000 and $250,000. 

The NYC EDC recently released a request for proposals on the project, which will be the first such city-sponsored incubator on Staten Island, which in recent years has become a larger and more attractive target for city businesses. Currently there are 12 other incubators in the other four bureaus that help a total of 500+ businesses, so this is looking to be a fantastic opportunity not only for a developer here on the island but for businesses and freelancers that could stand to benefit from such a development. 

Where will the new incubator be and what impact will it have on the local economy? It is hard to tell. Presumably, it will be either on the North Shore or along the train line between St. George and Tottenville to make it possible for those traveling from outside the bureau to reach it easily. However, the exact impact, location and effect of such a development remains to be seen. With proposals due by December 19th, we will likely see the results of these efforts by late 2013 or early 2014.