Oberlin Grads Need Not Apply for Space in 9-Story Office Building, Rep Says – DNAinfo

An East Williamsburg construction company wants to turn their lot into an office building for drone designers and advertising agencies. View Full Caption

Marvel Architects

EAST WILLIAMSBURG Hey Oberlin grads take your art history degree somewhere else, this developer says.

A family-run construction company that has operated out of East Williamsburg for the last 20 years wants to build a nine-story office building with subsidized manufacturing space to attract working-class residents and not just"Oberlin students who have just moved to Brooklyn like an hour ago," the project's lawyer said.

While the development at 79 Bogart St.will include some space for manufacturing, most of the nine stories will be set aside foroffices they hope to fill withtenants like drone designers, startup advertising agencies or artists studios, according to Ken Fisher, the lawyer representing Adams European Contracting Inc.

The owners willbe asking the city and the community for exemptions to current zoning codes in order to increase the size of thebuilding so they can include amenities for office workers like a video game room, a shower area and wine bar, Fisher explained.

"We're competing for talent," he said. "We think that the densitywill create a community in the building and will give it a sense of destination."

The lot at 79 Bogart St., which is owned byAdams, has been used for storage by the company for the last seven years.The company's owners, Polish immigrantMalgorzata Skarzynskiand her family, have been in East Williamsburg for around two decades.

They base theirbusiness offlucrative contracts with the city,including the renovation and restoration of the facadeof City Hall, and the planrelocatetheir offices to the new building.

"For some time we have been thinkingabout our need for more space for our business and whether we would be able to stay in the area," Skarzynski said.

The formal rezoning process for the site has not yet begun.

The proposal for 79 BogartSt. is thelatest in a slew ofnewly constructed office spaces developed in re-purposed warehouse inEast Williamsburg'sindustrial area,includingprojectslike 333 Johnson Avenue,OfficeOpsat 57 Thames St.,100 Bogart St., and thePaper Mill Loft Offices at 456 Johnson Ave.

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Oberlin Grads Need Not Apply for Space in 9-Story Office Building, Rep Says - DNAinfo