Russ & Daughters Team to Open Huge New Space in Brooklyn Navy Yard

New York icon Russ & Daughters is opening a huge manufacturing center and retail shop at Brooklyn Navy Yard's planned new food hall, its first retail foray outside of Manhattan. The bagel and fish purveyor is leasing a whopping 14,000-square-feet in Building 77, including space for the company's new bakery, wholesale food production, shipping, catering, and an outpost of its classic bagel sandwich shop for the public. The more than 100-year-old business will be the anchor business for the property, which will house many other smaller food vendors and manufacturers.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has previously not been open to the public, and about $185 million is being invested in renovating Building 77 to serve as an entry point for the public. The 60,000-square-foot ground floor food hall will also be a resource for employees at the Navy Yard. The city has pitched in about $80 million into the project in hopes of sparking jobs and economic growth for art, food, tech, and design manufacturing. Russ & Daughters' new space in particular will mean 30 new jobs, according to a statement.

Unlike the Orchard Street cafe, the Brooklyn retail location of Russ & Daughters will be a "fast-casual" breakfast and lunch spot. The company plans to up bakery production at the Navy Yard as well by getting into other classic New York and Jewish baked goods like bialys, babka, black & white cookies, challah, and knishes.

The Russ & Daughters team has been on a roll in the last few years. The crew opened the cafe in May 2014, just as the company turned a century old, and the team is planning a location in the Jewish Museum later this year. The company also just recently started experimenting with its own baked goods in a facility in Bushwick. Building 77, which is still seeking other businesses to fill it, will be finished early next year.

Rendering of Building 77, by Marvel Architects

Marvel Architects

Building 77, by Marvel Architects