Sunset Park’s waterfront is getting a serious volume boost. The team behind Public Records, the reliably packed Gowanus hotspot beloved for its meticulous sound, has been tapped to build a brand-new 1,000-person performance space at MADE Bush Terminal, the city-owned industrial campus being turned into a creative district.
The venue doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s already one of the most intriguing projects on the horizon. Public Records’ founders Shane Davis and Francis Harris, operating through their creative studio Public Service, are partnering with the NYC Economic Development Corporation to reimagine a 10,000-square-foot ground-floor warehouse in Building A. It’s slated to open in late 2026—plenty of time to dream about hearing a German electronic set or a 30-person gamelan ensemble against views of New York Harbor.
This won’t be Public Records 2.0, though. “There will never be another Public Records,” Davis told Dezeen, though he added that the team is interested in projects “that are ambitious and challenging.” With triple-height ceilings, room for large-scale art installations and acoustics shaped by Arup alongside bespoke speaker design from Ojas, it’s shaping up to be a canvas for the kind of live programming that the Gowanus space simply can’t fit.
The building (and the whole MADE Bush Terminal campus) comes with its own backstory. The 36-acre site was once a late-1800s industrial workhorse that churned through shipping, manufacturing and even military uses during World War II. Now, it’s being rebuilt as a hub for small-scale manufacturing, studios and cultural uses. A new five-acre waterfront park is underway, a ferry landing is planned and MADE ultimately expects up to 10 acres of public open space.
The venue will align directly with that civic-minded mission in its use, with plans to host everything from graduations and food drives to ESL classes and health screenings. “We knew that something really special and important could happen here,” Waverly Neer from the NYCEDC told the Commercial Observer. The design, led by nArchitects with lighting by Ben Kreukniet of BK Studio, threads the line between an industrial landmark and a future-focused arts campus.
Construction is expected to begin in the next few months.
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