Circular Construction Hub Launches at MADE Bush Terminal in Brooklyn

• NYCEDC has launched a year-long Circular Construction Hub pilot at MADE Bush Terminal, 13 42nd Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
• The hub will be operated by Our Temenos, a Brooklyn-based certified M/WBE ecological landscaping firm, and will recover, sort, store and redistribute selected construction materials.
• The pilot is intended to test whether reuse-focused supply chains can reduce construction waste while creating a practical model that could eventually expand across New York City.
• The initiative is the first award under NYCEDC's Ideas for Impact program, which seeks partnerships with nonprofits, startups, academic institutions and community organizations.

What The Circular Construction Hub Will Do

The New York City Economic Development Corporation has launched a new pilot focused on keeping reusable construction materials out of the city's waste stream. Located at MADE Bush Terminal at 13 42nd Street in Sunset Park, the Circular Construction Hub will collect, sort and store selected construction materials before redistributing them for reuse. The year-long program is being operated by Our Temenos, a Brooklyn-based ecological landscaping company certified as a minority- and women-owned business enterprise. The goal is practical: test what it takes to move reusable materials through a local supply chain and determine whether the model can work at a larger scale.

What The Pilot Will Test

During the year-long pilot, Our Temenos will handle material intake, processing, storage and resale activities. NYCEDC will track the operation and collect data on costs, logistics and overall economic viability. That information could help the city determine what type of infrastructure is needed to support larger-scale construction material reuse, including additional storage and reprocessing facilities. Rather than simply focusing on reducing waste, the pilot is intended to determine whether recovered materials can become a reliable resource for contractors and other construction businesses.

What Our Temenos Brings to the Program

Our Temenos was founded by Rosemarie Miner, who described the Circular Construction Hub as “a hyperlocal resource” for small construction businesses dealing with unpredictable supply chains. The company is already connected to NYCEDC programs. Our Temenos graduated from the agency's Waterfront Pathways Program and participated in the ConstructNYC Green Training program, a 39-hour course focused on circular construction management. Those programs give the company experience working within NYCEDC's broader effort to connect local businesses with emerging green-economy opportunities.

What The Initiative Means for Sunset Park

The Circular Construction Hub adds another piece to the growing network of climate and industrial initiatives across NYCEDC's 200-acre Sunset Park District. MADE Bush Terminal itself is a 20-acre adaptive reuse campus occupying part of the former Bush Terminal complex. The historic site was developed by Irving T. Bush beginning in the 1890s as a rail and marine freight terminal before the City of New York purchased it in 1971. The new hub builds on that industrial history while giving the property a role in the city's emerging circular economy.

What Other Projects Are Happening Nearby

The hub is part of a larger push to build green-economy infrastructure across Sunset Park. Other initiatives include BATWorks, a climate innovation hub at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, as well as the ongoing redevelopment of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into a major offshore wind port. The Circular Construction Hub gives that broader effort a smaller, more localized component by focusing specifically on construction materials and the businesses that can reuse them.

What The Pilot Could Mean for New York's Construction Industry

If the pilot proves economically viable, NYCEDC could use its findings to support additional material storage and reprocessing infrastructure throughout the city. That could be particularly useful for smaller contractors that may not have the resources to manage large inventories of recovered materials or navigate volatile construction supply chains on their own. The initiative has received support from the New York City Department of Sanitation, AIA New York, The Durst Organization and State Senator Brian Kavanagh, who chairs the Senate Housing Committee.

For New York's development industry, the pilot is another indication that construction waste reduction is moving beyond sustainability goals and toward the creation of actual reuse infrastructure and local supply chains.