Built in 1927 during Bushwick’s industrial heyday, 456 Johnson Avenue originally housed a paper manufacturing mill. Although the neighborhood in those days was known as “the beer capital of the Northeast,” its cobble-stoned streets were peppered with paper goods factories, chemical producers, glass products plants, and textile mills. In the post WWII years, with cheaper transportation and the switch to the use of aluminum cans for beer, the neighborhood saw many of its once storied breweries close their doors. The textile industry remained strong, however, with Bushwick becoming increasingly known as one of America’s major centers for textile and garment manufacturing. In fact, as recently as 2015, knitting machines on the first floor of 456 Johnson Avenue were still busy spinning yarn to create fabric sheets that were then sent up to third floor where they were expertly cut and finished into women’s sweaters to be sold to some of the best known brands and department stores in the world.
In the past decade, Bushwick has continued to change. People with the skills and craftsmanship needed to meet the demands of garment production retired or passed on; increasing competition from overseas made it difficult for many of the factories to survive. Meanwhile, a budding community of artists was increasingly attracted to neighborhood by the value to be had in its raw loft spaces. These trend setters ushered in a new era for Bushwick, one driven by the entrepreneurial talent and creative spirit that has always been a hallmark of the neighborhood and they brought with them a thriving restaurant, retail, and nightlife scene that has once again put Bushwick in the national spotlight and the pop culture conversation.
As the neighborhood underwent this transformation, so again did 456 Johnson Avenue. In 2016, a total overhaul and gut renovation of the building took form and “Bushwick Paper Mill Loft Offices” was born anew as an office building where talented creatives and entrepreneurs alike come to feel at home. All building systems were reconstructed as new. Each of the 3 upper floors were divided from an open floor plan of 14,500 square feet to create 9 to 12 high-end loft offices. On the ground level, the subdivision was limited to 6 units, allowing for more generous layouts, with private restrooms in each unit and private entrances at the street level via beautiful extra wide glass storefronts. Painstaking care was taken to restore the building’s original hardwood and concrete flooring as well as its wooden beam columns to pay homage building’s industrial past, while luxury finishes and all new interiors offer all the style and comfort of a modern office building. Each unit has individual self-controlled HVAC units, brand new energy-efficient windows, extra high ceilings, individual Verizon Fios connections, and is accessible 24 hours a day via access-control key fob. The top three floors each have a kitchen and a spacious conference room, with every tenant enjoying a minimum of 40 hours per month of guaranteed private conference room time. Three blocks from the Morgan stop on the L train and steps from some of the most world renowned restaurants, galleries, music venues, and nightlife this meticulously restored building boasts a beautiful lobby, a tenant bike room, a secure package room, a freight elevator, a new passenger elevator and – most critically – a loving and dedicated onsite building management team, making Bushwick Paper Mill a truly one-of-a-kind building in a truly one-of-a-kind neighborhood.
Bushwick Paper Mill 