Redeveloping New York Factories Into Small Business Hubs

Acumen redevelops warehouses into homes for small businesses

Erected in 1919, the Standard Motor Products Building was bought by Acumen in 2008 for more than $40 million. Brooklyn Grange, an urban farm, grows tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, herbs, and chard on the 40,000-square-foot roof. Inside are other small businesses, including the Jim Henson Co.Photograph by Alex S. MacLean/Landslides

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By Erin Zlomek

August 21, 2014 at 10:23 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the August 25, 2014 issue of businessweek.

When furniture designer Kristen Wentrcek moved her business into a shuttered Pfizer plant in Brooklyn, N.Y., she changed the light bulbs herself and used power tools to rip out a bank of metal pill cabinets. There were missing ceiling tiles, and a light flickered in the hallway. “It was like moving into a weird old library,” she says. “The bathrooms are clean, but the place isn’t super-refined.”

Wentrcek’s landlord, Acumen Capital Partners, specializes in bringing new life to old, offbeat commercial properties in New York City’s outer boroughs. The business was founded in 2007 by longtime Queens real estate developer Jeffrey Rosenblum and his business partner, Ashish Dua, who met 10 years ago while managing investments for real estate firm Time Equities.