Property of the Month: The O'Connell Organization reveals waterfront corner industrial space for lease in Red Hook; 175 Van Dyke Street aka the Merchant Stores Building; Ideal location for a manufacturing business

The O'Connell Organization, a family-owned real estate development and property management firm, revealed its latest commercial availability, unit 319A on the Red Hook waterfront at its flagship industrial property, 175 Van Dyke St., also known as the Merchant Stores Building. Formerly the home of Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pie, unit 319A is an ideal location for a manufacturing business with a desire to take advantage of the ample amount of exposure that comes with relocating to the Red Hook. This 7,000 s/f space includes level concrete floors, 14' ceilings, sufficient electric service and access on three sides, making it accessible not only by truck but also via the pedestrian walkway. The Merchant Stores Building was built by Col. Daniel Richards in 1873. Richards is also credited with developing plans for both the Atlantic Docks (site of today's Red Hook Container Terminal) and Erie Basin, the two waterfront improvements that brought about the emergence of Red Hook as a major shipping and warehousing center in the mid-19th century. The property consists of two brick warehouses, a 3-story section to the west and a 2-story section to the east. In the early 20th century it was home to one of Red Hook's largest employers, the Morgan Soda Co., later known as White Rock Beverage. There are still Red Hook old-timers who recall the lazy summers of their youth when they would swim up Buttermilk Channel to the pier, pinch a case of soda and float it back on an inner tube to Edison Beach at the foot of Dikeman St. Fast-forward to present day, the Merchant Stores Building has become one of the prime industrial locations in the borough. The O'Connell Organization has worked hard to ensure a place for light manufacturing small businesses here in the borough while retaining a strong sense of diversity in terms of the type of businesses that occupy space along the Red Hook waterfront. Tenants at the Merchant Stores Building include Red Hook Winery, Mile End Deli, Fleisher's Grassfed and Organic Meats, Pulley Collective, Horus Bronze, Pickett Furniture, and Flickinger Glassworks. Perhaps most notable, The Merchant Stores Building is also home to a premier event space, The Liberty Warehouse. With its industrial zoning, much of Red Hook is limited in how it can develop, making it an ideal location for a light-manufacturing business to enter into a long-term lease. There has been an influx of new residents and businesses into the area, which have taken care to become part of the local community. In contrast, Red Hook has many visitors that now travel into the neighborhood to patronize local small businesses, as well as larger ones such as IKEA and Fairway Market. Red Hook has established itself as one of area' s most unique and innovative communities that any business that leases unit 319A at the Merchant Stores Building will be benefit from. Please contact the O'Connell Org. office for more information on this or any of our other commercial listings.