The developers plan to convert some or all of the other nine buildings once BITC and Telecom Centers I and II are leased. But while Brooklyn and Queens are starting to emerge as Internet hubs, the Bronx is not yet seeing the same kind of advances. We've managed to fill the spaces we do have with more traditional manufacturing and industrial facilities. In a possible indicator of the borough's high-tech potential, the Internet food retailer Webvan recently took 430,000 square feet of warehouse space at 331 Tiffany Street to begin operations in New York. The EDC plans to designate a high-tech district in the Bronx later this year.
Land there is also available for new construction.
The potential of the Hudson River Valley, Long Island and New Jersey for new technology hubs has not escaped the notice of some real estate investors and technology companies. The new tech center, about an hour north of Manhattan, is situated along a major fiber-optic conduit. Cogswell and Rudin own the development rights to an additional 787,000 square feet on the Grumman site, which they hope to bring on-line as demand increases. Although the areas discussed here are marketing themselves as high-tech havens, the extent to which they are ready to serve their tenants varies. Long Island City remains very much a remnant of its industrial past, with many buildings still used as warehouses and factories.