Senator Lanza joins with NYCEDC to Announce Offshore Wind Facility in Rossville

Staten Island’s West Shore is full of potential. Today’s announcement with NYCEDC and NorthPoint Development puts Rossville at the center of the offshore development about to be unleashed just miles from our coastline,” said New York State Senator Andrew Lanza. “This 33-acre parcel, with its already built but never used pier has the potential to become the centerpiece of the regional wind energy maritime industry. Its success will bring many new job opportunities to our shores. It is of additional good news that the College of Staten Island will serve as a critical resource in helping to train future professionals in this budding new field.

NEW YORK, NY—New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has awarded a conditional designation as developer to NorthPoint Development with the goal to transform a Rossville Municipal Site, a 33-acre city owned waterfront industrial property in Staten Island into a state-of-the-art offshore wind (OSW) port facility, for manufacturing and assembling wind turbine components. Additionally, the College of Staten Island will be the receipt of $566,000 of state funding to help train the next generation of professionals for offshore wind careers.

The Rossville site is one of the few remaining industrial waterfront properties available and suitable for waterfront-dependent industrial uses in the region. The project will be located at 2629 Arthur Kill Road and includes a historic never used liquified natural gas (LNG) vessel tanker pier and approximately 2,000 linear feet of shoreline along the federally maintained Arthur Kill Channel and its easy access to the regional highway network are significant assets.

“Today’s announcements represent important milestones in our efforts to make New York City a leading destination for the rapidly growing offshore wind industry, and the central role that Staten Island plays in that,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development, Maria Torres-Springer. “We look forward to working with our partners to transform Staten Island’s west shore into a hub of maritime and manufacturing activity for the industry and arm local talent – and our young people in particular – with the resources and experience they need to jumpstart their careers in this industry and the broader green economy.”

“Revitalizing Staten Island’s West Shore is another crucial step forward in creating a nation-leading offshore wind ecosystem in New York and moves us closer to achieving the city’s ambitious climate goals,” said NYCEDC Chief Operating Officer Melissa Román Burch. “Through this partnership with NorthPoint Development and CUNY, we can reach our shared commitment for sustainable development that gives a new source of clean energy and help fuel new economic activity by creating quality jobs for all New Yorkers.”

“As the nation’s largest public urban university, we have an obligation to do everything we can to address climate change,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “We are grateful for Gov. Hochul’s investment in the College of Staten Island to train the next generation of off-shore wind professionals and pleased to be part of this borough-effort to help address the crisis.”

“On behalf of NorthPoint, we are excited to partner with the City, Borough, and the local Rossville community in creating local jobs and investment in support of the offshore wind industry while achieving the goals for the NYCEDC Rossville RFP. We would like to issue a very special thank you to the NYCEDC for selecting The NorthPoint team to partner on the redevelopment of these dormant sites into something that we are all proud of and transforms these properties into productive re-use for clean energy,” said David Rickard, Vice President of Development for NorthPoint Development.

“The offshore wind industry is poised to revitalize Staten Island's maritime industry in ways we have not seen since the nineteenth century. It's hard to imagine any other scenario where massive global players are breaking down the door to make generational capital investments on our West Shore waterfront. EDC's partnership with Northpoint and the State commitment to the College represent just the first of a series of massive investments that will bring thousands of jobs to our borough without the truck traffic, congestion and density of any other projects that have previously been proposed for these sites,” said Councilmember Joseph Borelli. “In the near future, when we see nacelles, blades or cables leaving this pier on barges, every single one will represent hundreds of jobs that put food on Staten Island dinner tables, pay Staten Island mortgages, and let workers spend in Staten Island small businesses."

“This is a wonderful opportunity to create a career pipeline for the students at the College of Staten Island and prepare them for good, high-paying jobs,” said Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. “We are pleased that the Rossville site might become a state-of-the-art offshore wind port facility, further developing our jobs coast and improving the economic vitality. We want to thank Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams for the investment in workforce development across the city and applaud NYCEDC for their continued efforts.”

“Staten Island’s West Shore is full of potential. Today’s announcement with NYCEDC and NorthPoint Development puts Rossville at the center of the offshore development about to be unleashed just miles from our coastline,” said New York State Senator Andrew Lanza. “This 33-acre parcel, with its already built but never used pier has the potential to become the centerpiece of the regional wind energy maritime industry. Its success will bring many new job opportunities to our shores. It is of additional good news that the College of Staten Island will serve as a critical resource in helping to train future professionals in this budding new field.”

“As waterfront communities around the United States pursue clean energy agendas and search for ways to best utilize their shorelines, Staten Island is getting in on the ground floor of something truly spectacular. The development of this site will be the model for waterfront projects across the East Coast, and it places Staten Island, in particular, on the map as a clean energy hub,” said Assemblymember Michael Reilly. “This project paves the way for an economic boom that’ll create hundreds of high quality, good paying jobs for Staten Island residents — and it secures these benefits for the long term by providing the foundation necessary to prepare future generations of our community’s clean energy workforce. Thank you to NorthPoint Development, NYCEDC, the College of Staten Island, and all the relevant stakeholders who’ve helped make Staten Island a priority.”

“Staten Island’s historic and expansive coastline positions us well to host the rapidly growing offshore wind industry bringing renewable power to our city along with new jobs for our neighbors. By connecting the College of Staten Island to this new, global industry, we will ensure today’s opportunity becomes a generational investment in the future of our community,” said Assemblymember Michael Cusick. “I want to thank the Mayor for his support and his commitment to revitalizing Staten Island’s waterfront by attracting projects that will create family-sustaining jobs and a legacy Island residents can be proud of.”

“CSI is excited about the opportunity this investment presents to our students and the local community. The funding will allow us to build a new Renewable Energy Systems LAB (RESL), purchase new equipment, as well as upgrade our existing Power Systems Laboratory, Applied Mechanics Laboratory, and Geology Teaching Laboratory,” said CSI Interim President Timothy G. Lynch. “These upgrades will be complemented by the completion of a new Makerspace Lab which was supported by Councilman Joseph Borelli and former Councilman Steven Matteo. The Makerspace Lab will be a state-of-the-art innovation center that will include laser cutters, lathes, welding, and milling machines with CNC capability, supporting our Workforce Development initiatives, and our degree programs. These investments will allow us to train the critical workers needed by the offshore wind industry and will pipeline students into jobs as engineers, environmental scientists, welders, wind turbine technicians, CNC machinists, and more.”

“The Staten Island Economic Development Corporation has long supported ‘green’ projects along the borough’s West Shore. The Rossville site’s key role in the emerging offshore wind industry represents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth and the creation of local jobs along our industrial working waterfront,” said Gina Gutman, Interim President of Staten Island Economic Development Corporation.

“NY Harbor and Staten Island have long been at the forefront of maritime innovation. Given its proximity to the New York Bight, it is no surprise the island continues to be a hotbed of potential to serve the critical offshore wind maritime sector. The Maritime Association of the Port of NY &NJ looks forward to the Rossville OSW site’s role in attracting maritime stakeholders and increasing maritime employment opportunities in and around the city’s waterways and working waterfront,” said Executive Director of Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey, Stephen Lyman.

“Waterfront Alliance recognizes that the reactivation of the Rossville pier for working waterfront is a longtime coming. Offshore wind jobs, resiliency, and emissions reductions all translate into great opportunity for waterfronts, job, and the longer-term goals of decarbonization. We applaud the NYCEDC and NorthPoint partnership announcement and look forward to how the site will integrate into the New York State and east coast’s offshore wind supply chain,” said Cortney Worrall, President & CEO, Waterfront Alliance.

NYCEDC released a request for proposal (RFP) in late March 2022 for the redevelopment of the site for OSW related activities with a particular focus on water-dependent manufacturing, as well as other OSW-related uses, including but not limited to operations and maintenance, interconnection, marshalling, and/or staging and assembly.

The Rossville facility will create a jobs center on the waterfront with an emphasis on good-paying manufacturing and industrial jobs, including the delivery of a comprehensive hiring and wage program that supports local communities and creates broad-based opportunity, with a focus on opportunities for those in historically underrepresented communities.

In September 2022, the city unveiled a 15-year, $191 million OSW vision plan to make New York a leading destination for the industry. NYCEDC is prepared to allocate up to $70 million of that investment in infrastructure on the Rossville site.

The College of Staten Island will receive $566,000 of State funds to help students access high-quality, hands-on laboratory experiences and coursework focused on offshore wind and renewable energy. The funding will support enhancements to three existing labs: a geology teaching lab, a power systems lab and applied mechanics lab and will build a renewable energy systems lab.

Mayor Adams also pledged $10 million to the City University of New York (CUNY) for capital costs associated with workforce development programs across associated campuses. Last September, CUNY and NYCEDC announced six CUNY colleges that are initial recipients of $3.98 million in City funding to help train the next generation of professionals for climate-smart careers. The funding is used for a variety of programs including training students in electric vehicle repairs, creating built environment and green energy solutions courses, while also developing new OSW industry curriculum and providing certification for green energy jobs. These education workforce development programs will be crucial in preparing New York City’s workforce for the burgeoning OSW industry.

This is just the latest OSW project to be announced. Last March, Mayor Adams announced an agreement to transform the city-owned South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) into one of the largest offshore wind port facilities in the nation. Currently, five offshore wind projects are in active development, which will power more than 2.4 million New York’s homes and bring a combined economic impact of $12.1 billion to the state.

These efforts are critical to the OSW priorities and investments of both New York City and New York State. The city expects these initiatives to remove more than 34 million tons of CO2 from the environment — the equivalent of removing nearly 500,000 cars from roadways for 15 years — while creating 13,000 jobs related to offshore wind infrastructure across the five boroughs through NYC sites and infrastructure supporting the construction of 12 GW of OSW energy.

About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization that creates shared prosperity across New York City by strengthening neighborhoods and creating good jobs. We work with and for communities to bring emerging industries to New York City; develop spaces and facilities for businesses; empower New Yorkers through training and skill-building; and invest in sustainable and innovative projects that make the city a great place to live and work. To learn more about what we do, visit us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About NorthPoint
NorthPoint Development is a privately held commercial real estate developer specializing in industrial and multi-family development. Since 2012, NorthPoint Development has raised more than $13.1 billion in capital, developed and managed more than 148.2 million square feet of industrial space, created more than 78,000 jobs, and supported more than 557 industrial clients across the United States. “Beyond the Contract” embodies the concept that no contract can be written to reflect everything that will occur in a complex real estate transaction. Our approach in all business relationships is to be fair and to operate by the “Golden Rule”.