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If you'd had flown over Brooklyn in recent months, you knew progress on the Nets HSS Training Center was slow in coming. The roof on Building 19 in Industry City was still intact. That meant that the key element of the $45 million project still hadn't been addressed - raising the ceiling on the building by more than a dozen feet so it can accommodate the two practice courts.
As of Sunday, that's changed. A construction crane and netting are in place and the crane should be operating soon, taking down the roof and adding construction elements. The 70,000-square foot center is being built on the top two -- eighth and ninth -- floors of the 100-year-old building at 148 39th Street in Industry City. HSS, the Hospital for Special Surgery, is the primary sponsor.
The project has been delayed. It was supposed to be complete in time for the Nets to switch training camp from their longtime facility in East Rutherford, NJ, to the new facility by October 1. All the team will say is that it will be complete during the season, with one rumor suggesting it could take until All-Star Break in February. With the crane up and operating, contractors should be able to give the Nets a better timetable. One big reason for the delays -- other than this being New York -- is that renovating a 100-year-old building can often bring surprises.
Blessed with spectacular views of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, Lower Manhattan and the broad expanse of Brooklyn, the venue will contain practice courts, a weight room, a training pool and two hydro pools, a rooftop entertainment space, an 18-seat multimedia theater, 3,000 square feet of hospitality/players’ lounge space, and a media interview/workroom. Offices for the GM and Head Coach will also be at the center.
Industry City has been touting the larger 16-building "Hipster Industrial complex" of light industry, food, art and sports tenants.
Last June 26, on the morning of the NBA Draft, the team released renderings of the facility's exterior as well as selected interiors and a floor plan. David Manica, a well known sports architect from Kansas City, and Mancini Duffy, a New York firm, are responsible for the design.