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Brooklyn,____ incAn artist%u2019s conception of the lobby area of the new Brooklyn Gas Company building at the corner of what is now Jay and Myrtle Streets. Right, a site plan model for the MetroTech area, includes: (1) the BUG building; (2) the new SIAC Building; (3) a newTelecommunications Building for Polytechnic University; (4) Polytechnic's present main building. Jay Street is (5), Flatbush Ave. is (6) and the new Hilton Hotel is (7)Downtown Developm ent Projects Show Varying Progress:SIAC And BUG Put Their Relocation Plans In WritingBY LIZ KOCHThe huge MetroTech project being sponsored by Polytechnic University inDowntown Brooklyn took two big stepstoward reality in August when two bigfirms signed formal letters of intent to take650,000 square feet of office space in the twonew high-rise buildings on the campus-likecomplex being developed by ForestCity/MetroTech Associates.Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC), the company that providesback office operations for the New York andAmerican Stock Exchanges, and BrooklynUnion Gas Company, the borough%u2019s onlyNew York Stock Exchange listed company,have both signed letters of intent withForest City/MetroTech Associates and arenow negotiating the actual leases for theirspace in the high-tech project.SIAC, currently located at 55 Water Streetin Manhattan, signed its letter of intent withForest City on August 22, four months afterfirst announcing that it planned to move themajority of its operations to the Brooklynlocation. The 485,000 square foot buildingwhich will house the SIAC operations willbe built in the first phase of the two-phaseMetroTech plan, slated for groundbreakingin the Spring of 1987. SIAC will initially rentroughly SO,000 square feet of the $88 millionbuilding with an option to expand in thefuture.William Cedar, vice president of administration at SIAC, calls the MetroTechplan a %u201cwonderful package,%u201d and says SIACis moving ahead quickly on the preliminarydesigns for the building, which is beingdesigned to the company%u2019s own specifications. According to Cedar, SIAC%u2019s headquarters officers are being relocated toBrooklyn with approximately 800 of its U00employees making the move across theriver. With consulting engineers and interior designers already at work, CedarEredicts that the preliminary designs wille completed by the year%u2019s end.%u201cThe setting is perfect for us. The dataprocessing and high-tech communicationswill make for an easy and productive relationship between Polytechnic Universityand SIAC,%u201d Cedar says. Polytechnic, sponsor of the MetroTech development, is expanding its own academic and researchfacilities as part of the 16-acre constructionplan, which is also designed to attract otherhigh-technology firms.SIAC began its negotiations with theCity%u2019s Public Development Corporation twoyears ago seeking a suitable spot for relocation out of the crowded and pricey WallStreet area. Cedar says the Brooklyn siteoffers a plan difficult to match and financialas well as practical incentives make thelocation ideal. He points to the close proximity of transportation as well as goodfinancing and abatements that make theMetroTech site enticing.%u201cIt would be hard to find another locationGathered at the City Hall announcement of the SIAC move to Brooklyn, together with an artist%u2019s rendering of the proposed building are: Charles McQuade, SIAC president; Deputy Mayor Alair Townsend; Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden; and Polytechnic President George Bugliarello. (Brooklyn,Inc Photo)that would give us as much as MetroTech isgiving us. Substantially we have our ownbuilding on campus,%u201d Cedar says.In moving into Brooklyn and away fromManhattan%u2019s congested financial district,SIAC will be able to take advantage of anumber of City of New York benefits reserved for company%u2019s moving into theboroughs. These include a 30 percent reduction in the Commercial Occupancy Tax, andbenefits from an energy reduction program.%u201cWe also know that the City is committedand the Borough President is committed tothe development of Downtown Brooklyn,%u201dCedar adds. %u201cIt is an enormous positivesign that the City and the Borough President are effectively carrying out a development program. We are getting in onsomething very exciting,%u201d he says.For Brooklyn Union Gas Company, nowAtlantic Terminal GetsAtlantic Terminal developer JonathanRose finally has received the coveted letterof intent he needed to get his Atlantic Terminal Project rolling.Just three weeks after the executiveboard of the City%u2019s Health and HospitalsCorporation (HHC) approved a resolutionpermitting its president to execute and signa letter of intent and a lease with Rose, theprocess has already taken another big step.Rose Associates and HHC signed a letterof intent on September 12, formalizing theagency%u2019s intention to move into the proposed project. Rose summed up his reactionin two words last week: %u201cI%u2019m happy.%u201dUnder the terms of the agreement, theagency wiu lease 4,owu sq. re. in me AtlanticTerminal building where it plans to consolidate its four offices now located at fourdifferent sites in Manhattan. Initial rent forthe space will be $16.50 sq. ft. The buildingis slated for groundbreaking in spring ofA Yes From Hospitals1987 and HHC is currently working ondesign specifications to suit their needs.Although the letter of intent does notspecifically address expansion plans for thefuture, Rose says he will happily accommodate any additional needs for space.Rose and the City%u2019s Public DevelopmentCorporation first began negotiations withthe agency in the beginning of 1985. The letter of intent is crucial for Rose%u2019s plans toobtain Federal funding for the project. TheCity%u2019s application for a $16.51 million UrbanDevelopment Action Grant (UDAG) for theAtlantic Terminal Project was held overtwice by the City%u2019s Housing PreservationAgency because Rose did not have hisp u v a ie l u io ih ju u l u u u i i i u u c i u m place. TTicdeadline for the latest round of UDAGmoney is September 15 and Rose says withno uncertainty, %u201cThe application is now 100percent complete.%u201d %u2014 L.K.headquartered in its own building on Montague Street, the move to the MetroTechcomplex represents an opportunity to gainmuch-needed space for operations whichhave been expanding in recent years, saysWilliam Federici, director of communications. %u201cWe have a lot of employees rightnow we are squished into a budding thatisn%u2019t big enough.%u201d The move is also inspiredby the opportunity to be a part of the hightechnology environment that is integral tothe project.The 906-1000 BUG employees currentlylocated on Montague Street, will move into400,000 square feet of new space in theMetroTech complex, as the major tenant inFOR SIAC PRESIDENT%u2019SVIEWS ON MOVE, SEE PG. 3a 19-dory 800,000 square foot office tower,directly opposite the new Hilton Hotel. Thebuilding, which will be located betweenLawrence and Jay Streets will face theMetroTech Commons, a three and a halfacre plaza. The SIAC building will belocated immediately east of BUG.%u201cBoth in size and for the new hightechnology that will be available atMetroTech, the location will be ideal forus,%u201d Federici says. The company will alsobuild a co-generation facility to provideelectricity, air-conditioning and heat for theproject. %u201cWe also have an interest in bettering our service area and MetroTech provides that opportunity,%u201d Federici adds.The total MetroTech development as proposed will be executed in a two-phase planwhich will be built over ten years at a totalcost of $776 million. The development willinclude expansion of space for PolytechnicUniversity, including a Center for AdvancedTechnology and Telecommunications, thehigh-technology aspect of the project thathas attracted both SIAC and BUG, interested in the latest research and progressin the field.In the second phase of the project an additional three million sq. ft. of office spacewill be added in a construction, plan thatcalls for eight new buildings and 3 renovations. The overall project is slated for completion in the late 1990%u2019sBoro Future Is BrightThe City%u2019s Public Development Corporation, which has been pivotal in the processof creating and promoting DowntownBrooklyn development projects, has an optimistic forecast about who will move tonew space being created in Brooklyn overV1IV J V/Uk tJ W VVIUViThis past month, three major tenantshave already signed letters of intent tomove into the new projects Downtown.Securities Industry Automation CorporationContinued on Page 18Pago 17, Tha Phoonlx/Brooklynjnc Section Two, September 18,1986