New York, NY —

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative or IAVI has signed a 15 year lease for space at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The announcement bolsters city and state efforts to strengthen the New York's biotech industry.

REPORTER: Jonathan Bowles, of the nonpartisan Center for an Urban Future, says there's no question that biotech could mean big profits for the city.

BOWLES: Developments like what we're seeing at the Brooklyn Army Terminal are going to be pivotal to the city's growth in biotech. We need this kind of space developed. It will allow the city to hold on to innovative companies like IAVI and others.

REPORTER: The terminal is located in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood and is accessible from Manhattan by water taxi. It's one of two major biotech projects currently underway in the city. The other is a 1.1 million square foot complex between 28th and 29th Streets between 1st Avenue and the FDR.