IBZs 4eva?

hey reader(s)! happy 2008! i've been away on a craft blitz, and am taking a wee break from the sewing machine to present an issue of constant concern to me, the fate of industrial businesses. 

back in 2003, when i was in planning school, my economic development class was paid a visit by the head of the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation. aside from being pleasantly surprised that she was so cool (dressed in leopard print and promoting her band- back then i thought all economists were stodgy a la greenspan) i remember asking her if she thought that the brooklyn army terminal and the sunset park industrial area (where over 20,000 people are employed in the manufacturing sector) would face growing real estate pressure for residential conversion in the coming years. she said no, stating the gowanus expressway cut the terminal off from the rest of the neighborhood, making the area less tasty to developers. however, as i drive through sunset park these days and notice the south park slope gentri-sprawl, and think of things like the hotel jolie built practically on the gowanus in the 'burg, i can't help but wonder how long it will take for those prime industrial lofts to become prime residential space, with the gowanus a less daunting deterrent.  i then remembered that for now, those lofts are protected as industrial space by inclusion in one of the city's sixteen industrial business zones (IBZs).  An IBZ is a mechanism of the mayor's office for industrial and manufacturing businesses that provides business assistance and tax credits, as well as the promise of "real estate certainty."  this promise states that the bloomberg administration will not support any rezonings of industrial properties within an IBZ for residential use, which would be necessary to turn the army terminal into apartments. well, phew, i thought... until i realized the wording of the promise only states that the current administration will not support rezonings to residential use; they are not in any way prohibited. of course, legislation prohibiting rezonings of any kind could easily be considered a taking*, so i can see why the law would be vaguely written. however, with the coming 2009 mayoral race about to heat up, it will be important to see which candidate looks to support the remaining industrial base, and the IBZs. so as the platforms start to roll out in the coming weeks, it's an issue to track. 

 

* an act of the government depriving a citizen of private property without just compensation; the term also covers the act of depriving an owner of the right to a reasonable return on his property.