Logistics Startup Highline Commerce Expands to 42K SF at Industry City
Pvilion and Citibin also sign deals at the 35-acre Brooklyn campus
By Abigail Nehring January 31, 2024 6:54 pm
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Three growing companies needed flexible industrial space in Brooklyn and turned to Sunset Park’s Industry City.
In the largest deal, third-party logistics startup Highline Commerce signed a four-year lease to tack on another 15,311 square feet to its existing 27,000-square-foot space on the second floor of Building 7, according to Industry City officials. The deal brings its total footprint in the 35-acre campus to 42,311 square feet.
Asking rent was $23 per square foot, according to a spokesperson for Industry City.
Highline offers “founder-friendly” inventory management services such as product returns, freight forwarding and international shipping for online retailers looking to scale up their business rapidly, according to its website. Its own expansion comes just two years after it arrived at Industry City.
“Highline is a younger company. We put them in a vacant space, but they had their eye on growth from the get-go,” said Jeff Fein, Industry City’s senior vice president of leasing who arranged the three deals in-house for Industry City owners Belvedere Capital, Jamestown and Angelo Gordon & Company. “That’s very important for us, and something we take pride in, the same way the Brooklyn Nets moved here in 2014 for the gym facility and expanded the next year. They didn’t look somewhere else. Tenants in growth mode look to us because they know they can expand.”
Highline did not have a broker.
Next up, solar canopy manufacturer Pvilion signed a four-year lease for 13,554 square feet of flexible manufacturing, showroom and office space on the fourth floor of Building 8, according to Industry City. The company will relocate from its current headquarters at 64 John Street in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood.
Pvilion was founded in 2011 as a spinoff of renewable energy company FTL Solar, according to its website. It designs and manufactures tents, canopies and other outdoor gear equipped with solar panels.
Asking rent was $23 per square foot, an Industry City spokesperson said. Pvilion also did not have a broker.
In the last deal, trash bin and dumpster manufacturer Citibin inked a four-year lease for 4,631 square feet of industrial space on the third floor of Building 26, which had an asking rent of $20 per square foot, according to a spokesperson for Industry City.
Citibin has occupied 1,339 square feet in Building 2 at Industry City since 2017. The new deal will more than triple its footprint at the campus, as it will relocate and consolidate its industrial spaces upstate and in New Jersey to Sunset Park.
“Having our office and showroom in the same location as our industrial and fulfillment operations has been a game-changer for us as business owners,” Citibin founder and CEO Liz Picarazzi said in a statement. “It not only boosts efficiency but also enables all our employees to enjoy the perks of this vibrant campus. Not to mention, it is really nice to pay only one rent check every month.”
Cresa’s Bert Rosenblatt arranged the deal for Citibin, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.
