NEW YORK CITY-After considering a move to New Jersey, Fresh Direct will be establishing its new headquarters and operations center in the Bronx. The fresh food Internet grocer will invest $112.6 million in a new 500,000-square-foot facility on the 16-acre Harlem River Yards site, retaining nearly 2,000 existing jobs and creating almost 1,000 new jobs, the city announced Tuesday morning.
The construction of the new facility will also result in the creation of approximately 684 construction jobs in the Bronx and an overall economic impact to the city of nearly $255 million. It is expected to open in 2015.
“Making sure that companies like Fresh Direct can grown and invest in New York City is a key part of our strategy to rebuild and diversify our economy,” says Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a statement following the deal. “A thousand new jobs at the Harlem River Yards is great news for the Bronx and a welcome boost to our city’s economy.”
Fresh Direct—founded in 1999 and currently based at 23-30 Borden Ave. in Long Island City, Queens—purchases produce, meat and dairy from over 60 New York State-based farms and serves a customer base of over 100,000 people. Its new headquarters will expand its service area to regions surrounding New York City, as well as New Jersey, Connecticut and Philadelphia.
The fresh grocer received a package of state and city incentives valued at over $100 million for the move. In addition, Fresh Direct plans to purchase 10 electric trucks from Smith Electric Vehicles and five additional electric refrigeration units that can be placed on existing trucks. Both Smith Electric Vehicles and Fresh Direct have recently committed to establishing their company headquarters in the Bronx.
In a statement, Fresh Direct Chief Executive Officer Jason Ackerman says the new facility is needed due to “significant growth” in the company’s customer base—and New York, not New Jersey, was the place to do it. “We need to expand our operations,” he says. “A new state-of-the-art facility at the Harlem River Yard in the Bronx would allow us to operate more efficiently, maintain our relationships with NYS vendors, local farmers and purveyors and continue our long track record of growth and job creation in New York.”
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