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The Fringe Continues to Shrink as One-Time Ghost Towns Become Chic

NEW YORK CITY-The Economic Development Corporation's endeavors to spread the wealth throughout the boroughs are paying off as e-technology finds solutions to real estate shortage in Manhattan.

By Amy Vaughn | Updated on September 25, 2000

NEW YORK CITY-The Bronx, for decades only considered a place to catch a baseball game or a means between New England and Long Island, is finally beginning to redefine itself as attractive and affordable space within the city’s still tight real estate market. It was the butt of jokes about urban decay as it continued to lose residents, businesses and retailers throughout the latter half of the 20th century even when other parts of the city saw prosperity. Now, Webvan Group Inc. is ushering in a new attitude toward the Bronx’s long-vacant industrial space.

As other e-technology companies are paying more than $50 per sf and investing in infrastructure without aid to rent in Manhattan, a growing number of companies are finding new homes in buildings that bring with them financial incentives from the city’s Economic Development Corp. Webvan has found that approximately $11 million in city and state sales tax abatements and reductions in property taxes, as well as additional tax credits for every local resident hired and help from the EDC’s job data bank in its hiring, made the Hunts Point section of the Bronx irresistible.

Webvan has signed a lease for a 10-acre, one-story building totaling 400,000 sf of space. The company will begin by hiring 500 employees with plans to expand to 900, many of the jobs paying $30,000 or more a year. The building, located at 331 Tiffany St., has been vacant for years. The property will function as a distribution center for goods ordered online as it did for Alexander’s retail stores.

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