Overview

The program for South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) calls for reactivation of maritime services specializing in handling automobiles and other roll-on/roll-off cargoes, plus the construction of a new, state-of-the-art municipal recycling facility. Reactivation includes over $115 million in terminal infrastructure improvements, site preparation and dredging, including $20 million to extend rail infrastructure to SBMT in order to connect the terminal to the Southern Gateway, one of New York City’s principle connections to the national rail network. 

NYCEDC’s rehabilitation of SBMT will leverage $52 million in private investment on the site.  Once terminal improvements are complete, two new tenants will occupy space at SBMT: the Axis Group, a logistics company specializing in the automotive industry that will utilize the terminal for automobile processing and import/export via ocean-going vessels; and Sims Metal Management, which will construct a new recycling facility to handle New York City’s municipal recyclables.  Both parties will use rail and waterborne transportation to the maximum extent possible to reduce trucking both in the local area and on the regional road network.

Project Location

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is located along the Bay Ridge Channel in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The approximately 88-acre terminal was originally built in the 1960s and 70s to handle a variety of containerized and non-containerized cargos. It was closed operationally in the 1980s and was used as a tow-pound facility for the New York Police Department. NYCEDC has worked actively to rehabilitate and reactive SBMT in order to bring water-dependent uses to the facility.

Project Details

The SBMT rehabilitation project is segmented into the three discrete projects: improvements of the Axis area, rail infrastructure, and improvements of the Sims area.

The Axis improvements include the following, all of which were completed in 2012:

• Modernization of electrical infrastructure
• Creation of a new work area for stevedoring
• Reconstruction of the north face of the 39th Street Pier
• Dredging of the main berth at the west face of the 39th Street Pier to 33 feet

Rail infrastructure improvements entail the following, all of which were completed in 2012:

• Construction of a direct rail connection to SBMT along 1st Avenue
• Construction of new rail infrastructure inside the terminal, including:
• A new break-bulk rail spur along the 39th Street shed
• Two new rail sidings for auto rack loading and unloading
• A new rail connection to the Sims recycling facility at the 29th Street Pier

The Sims improvements include:

• Construction of an enclosed barge unloading facility on the south face of the 29th Street Pier
• Reconstruction of the north and west faces of the 29th Street Pier
• Dredging of the main berth at the south and west face of the 29th Street Pier to 12 feet
• Regrading of the 29th Street Pier and other site improvements
• Modernization of electrical infrastructure

Read more about the recycling facility project on the Sims Municipal Recycling Facility project page.