This project is the adaptive reuse of the 300,000 square foot Standard Motor Products building in Long Island City, New York. Originally a 7-story commercial loft building (including basement) built in 1919, the property has been transformed from a single tenant manufacturing facility to a multi-tenant commercial/manufacturing building catering to a variety of businesses including media, architectural, technology, design, fashion, film, and printing companies. Tenants include the Jim Henson Company, the Franklin Mint, Kingswear International and I-Grace Construction.

The $10,000,000 environmentally friendly renovation included the replacement of all existing windows with new, low-e windows, new exterior lighting and signage, an additional passenger elevator, electrical and building systems upgrades, installation of a new lobby and entrance canopy, the creation of modern common corridors with energy efficient lighting, common restrooms with low consumption fixtures and the installation of a 42,000sf rooftop farm. The palette of interior finishes is minimal and durable, with polished concrete flooring, stainless steel fittings and painted sheetrock partitions. The industrial strength structure was more than adequate to carry the 1,000,000 pounds of engineered soil needed to create one of the largest rooftop farms in the world, the Brooklyn Grange’s first in the city.

The building’s transformation has already received awards from the Queens Chamber of Commerce and the US Green Building Council of New York.