Acme Smoked Fish Corp. has rolled out detailed plans for an expansion of its Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. processing facility.
The company first announced expansion plans in March 2019 and it said in a press release the coronavirus crisis has not deterred it from seeking to build a larger facility.
“The continued success and authenticity of our brand depends on Acme staying in Brooklyn,” Acme Co-CEO Adam Caslow said. “Manufacturing in Brooklyn has become more expensive and complicated in recent decades, but our proposal for expanding our headquarters with additional commercial uses to offset those costs represents a new approach to growing a business and protecting jobs inside New York City.”
Acme’s proposed new facility will include 580,000 square feet of commercial space, of which, 95,299 square feet will be used to house a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for the company, with the remainder to be used for commercial leasing to third-party manufacturers. This gives the company flexibility to expand further in the future, Caslow said.
The proposed build-site will take up an entire city block and will be nine stories at its highest, and four stories for the current space to be occupied by Acme. The plan has been submitted and will now enter a local public review process.
“Coming as New York City’s economy is still suffering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposed expanded manufacturing headquarters runs counter to decades of manufacturing decline in Brooklyn,” the company said. “The plan is predicated on a new mixed-use development model that includes the development of manufacturing space as well as space for additional compatible commercial uses to generate revenue that can offset the cost of building highly specialized, less financially viable factories.”
Acme, a fourth-generation, family-owned company, is one of the leading smoked fish purveyors in the United States. The company markets products ranging from Smoked Nova, Pickled Herring, and Whitefish Salad to Smoked Atlantic Salmon Candy, ready-to eat Blue Hill Bay Smoked Fish Poke Bowls Poke Bowls, and Everything Bagel Seasoned Smoked Salmon. Acme’s products are sold in retail and foodservice establishments across the country and ships nationwide directly to consumers. In August 2020, it announced a partnership with Atlantic Sapphire to procure Bluehouse Salmon raised in the company’s Miami, Florida land-based farm.
“When investment and jobs are needed in New York City more than ever, a project like this signals that the city is open for business and that we are turning a corner in our recovery,” Rubenstein Partners Vice President Jeff Fronek said. “Add to that the preservation of manufacturing space at the site, a partner in Acme that is so conscious of its role in the community, and we truly have the best and most innovative project to launch Greenpoint’s economic recovery.”
Photo courtesy of Acme Smoked Fish Corp.
