NEW YORK CITY-After several years of failed redevelopment plans, the city is working to revitalize the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. During the 2012 “State of the City” address, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would issue a request for proposals to find a new developer to revamp the historic 575,000-square-foot property.
“We’re putting aside our differences to do what’s best for the city,” Bloomberg said, during the address at Morris High School. He said city economic development officials would work hand-in-hand with borough president Ruben Diaz, Jr. to find a new operator for the site. “That’s what leadership is about. It’s not about a series of running arguments--it’s about getting things done.”
The redevelopment of the armory has a long history of political controversy. In 2009, the City Council voted against a $310 million mixed-use plan by Related Cos. for the site, due to the developer’s refusal to guarantee living wages for workers at the facility. Commercial real estate and construction groups largely favored the Related project, while local residents and borough officials said the plan “only ensures profits for the developer while leaving residents in poverty.”
But this year, Bloomberg vowed to create a viable solution for residents and the business community. “We’ve heard from a variety of interested parties, including those who want to develop it into recreational space,” he said. “And we’re hopeful that the Kingsbridge Armory, vacant for some 15 years, will soon be transformed into a place that benefits the community and employs community members.”
In response, Diaz said in a statement that the new RFP will allow the city to seek developers from a “wide spectrum of potential uses”, allowing the borough to bring a project that will “enhance and compliment the surrounding neighborhood to this historic structure.”
And with $87 million in investment planned throughout the entire borough, the Bronx as a whole served as the mayor’s backdrop for the city’s economic redevelopment agenda. Earlier in the week, the mayor opened the doors to the Sunshine Bronx Business Incubator, a facility that will accommodate up to 400 entrepreneurs and start-up companies inside the historic BankNote Building at 890 Garrison Ave. In addition, Prestige Properties is planning a $270 million expansion of Bay Plaza Shopping Center in Eastchester, while in Port Morris, Smith Electric Vehicles will open a 90,000-square-foot assembly plant, where all-electric commercial vehicles will be manufactured.
The city also stepped up efforts to keep some 3,600 jobs at Hunts Point produce market. “New Jersey is making a big pitch to lure the market away, but we’re fully committed to modernizing the market and keeping those jobs here,” Bloomberg said.
On the retail side, Whitestone, NY-based Triangle Equities will bring a supermarket, offices and a new charter school to a long-vacant spot at the Bronx Hub on 149th Street, creating 200 new jobs. In the same area, a new hotel across from Yankee Stadium is also brewing.
Further north, Bloomberg said the rezoning of East Fordham Road would allow for more private sector investment and “economic development possibilities” on Webster Avenue. “To do that, we’re working with a group of neighbors we call the Bronx Quad: the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, Montefiore Medical Center and of course, the emerging basketball powerhouse, Fordham University,” he said.
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