Nets Basketball has taken another major step toward its move to Brooklyn by signing a long-term lease for office space at 15 MetroTech Center to serve as the team’s corporate headquarters.
The 35,145-square-foot workplace occupying the entire 11th floor of the 19-story building will be the home office for 150 employees on the business side of NETS Basketball and Barclays Center. It is expected that the staff will begin its relocation process from its current offices in East Rutherford, NJ next month.
Serving as a convenient location for arena and team staff, MetroTech, developed by Forest City Ratner Companies, is just one stop to Barclays Center on several subway lines or an approximate 15-minute walk.
“Bravo to NETS Basketball for another great step in its move to Brooklyn,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Having the corporate offices of Brooklyn’s first professional sports team since 1957 downtown will be a ‘net positive’ for the neighborhood. And what better place to house those offices than MetroTech Center – the office complex that helped kick start the revitalization of our borough – making it a “slam-dunk” to bring the NETS to Brooklyn.”
“MetroTech is a terrific environment in the heart of Brooklyn’s business district and a convenient location for our corporate headquarters,” said NETS and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “We look forward to being part of the continued renaissance of downtown Brooklyn.”
Bruce Mosler, Chairman of Global Brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield, represented the NETS in the transaction.
The NETS basketball team will begin playing in the brand new Barclays Center, being developed by Forest City Ratner Companies, in the start of the 2012-13 NBA season.
Located atop one of the largest transportation hubs in New York City, Barclays Center will be accessible by nine subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road.
