By Joshua Burd
An urban farming company plans to establish a garden center at the 130-acre campus known as Kearny Point, a former shipbuilding yard and industrial complex that is being reborn as a mixed-use business and technology hub.
Hugo Neu, the project’s developer, announced recently that Brooklyn Grange was launching its first ground-level venture at the Kearny property, a space that will function primarily as a garden center and plant nursery. It will be the operator’s first location outside of New York City, where it operates the world’s largest soil rooftop farm and grows more than 50,000 pounds of organic produce annually.
Brooklyn Grange was represented by broker Stuart Arkin in the deal at Kearny Point.
“Our team is so excited to be working with the folks at Hugo Neu to transform Kearny Point,” said Gwen Schantz, co-founder of Brooklyn Grange and the driving force behind its design-build arm. “This area of New Jersey has been paved over and polluted for decades, and it is such a thrill for us to help restore several acres of it into meadows and green space that will benefit the local ecosystem.
“Over the next several years, we’re going to see this waterfront landscape change from gray to green, and we’re truly honored to be a part of it.”
Brooklyn Grange joins some 200 other companies at Kearny Point, a project that began with a former industrial property that Hugo Neu converted to a 207,000-square-foot flex building. The property represented the first phase of the multibillion-dollar redevelopment, which is transforming a historic former shipbuilding yard at the nexus of the Hackensack and Passaic rivers.
The full project is expected to span 3 million square feet. Hugo Neu has also tapped Brooklyn Grange to provide landscaping services on the 130-acre property, part of an effort to create a resilient and sustainable ecosystem.
Brooklyn Grange Garden Center at Kearny Point will be a multifaceted green space meant to cultivate community and support the natural environment, according to a news release. The company will also build a storm water retention feature, edible landscape and sensory garden.
The Garden Center will host educational workshops for everyone from first-time gardeners to design professionals looking for hands-on instruction in building green roofs, the news release said. Brooklyn Grange will start by converting 2.6 acres of lawn — which requires intensive irrigation and mowing — into a natural meadow landscape by applying a layer of cardboard and wood chips to smother the weeds and nonnative grasses that currently inhabit the area.
The layer will remain in place for at least one growing season, after which it will be seeded with a diverse blend of native plants.
“The opening of Brooklyn Grange’s garden center aligns perfectly with our broader vision to promote economic and social sustainability at Kearny Point and in the local community,” said Wendy Neu, CEO of Hugo Neu. “Not only does this initiative support the health of the local ecosystem and create enhanced aesthetic value, but it also furthers Kearny Point’s status as a vibrant 24/7 community by bringing additional weekend visitors to the site.”
