After 25 years in its current address, Lee Spring’s global headquarters has a new location that reflects the company’s commitment to their Brooklyn, NY heritage.
Effective October 6th, 2008, the new location for Lee’s offices and New York manufacturing operations is in the historic Brooklyn Army Terminal. The new address will be 140 58th Street, Brooklyn NY 11220. The local phone number remains 718-236-2222
Lee Spring, an ISO 9001 Certified manufacturer of precision metal springs and allied parts, was founded in Brooklyn by Robert Lee Johansen in 1918. This newest location marks the company’s fourth consecutive one in Brooklyn.
The new Brooklyn location will serve as Lee Spring’s global headquarters as well as one of its more highly skilled manufacturing plants. Over its 90-year history, Lee Spring has also expanded its operations globally.
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The company now has four other strategically aligned manufacturing plants in the United States. Lee’s manufacturing & sales facility in Monterrey, Mexico services Latin America, their wholly owned distribution facility in the United Kingdom services Europe and their sales & distribution facility in China services Asia.
The Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) served as the largest military supply base in the U.S. through WWII. BAT was commissioned by the federal government in March of 1918 to serve as a military depot and supply base.
The massive five million square-foot complex was completed in September of 1919, built in just 17 months. This feat is impressive even by today’s standards, especially given the massive facility’s size.
BAT’s utilitarian design was highly innovative for its time. The complex was constructed of girder-less, steel reinforced concrete slabs and included 96 centrally-controlled push-button elevators, the largest elevator installation of its time.
The entire complex was interconnected, with three bridges on the third floor linking the two main building structures. The larger of the two buildings featured a huge skylight-enclosed atrium, and the smaller building was joined to the atrium by three covered piers.
BAT was most heavily trafficked during WWII, during which 56,000 military and civilian personnel were employed there. Over three million troops and 37 million tons of military supplies passed through the facility. Arguably the most famous soldier to deploy from BAT was Elvis Presley.
He greeted fans and a dozens of photojournalists in September of 1958 when he shipped off from Brooklyn to Germany. Today, BAT is a fully functioning commercial/industrial complex that houses dozens of corporate tenants in a wide array of industries.