NEW YORK CITY—Score one for developers. A group of 40-60 businesses—who call themselves the Sunrise Cooperative—has signed an agreement to relocate from Willets Point, in Queens, to Hunts Point, in the Bronx, according to the Commercial Observer, helping to bring a planned mixed-use development near Citi Field closer to fruition.
The move is a big win for the Related Companies and Sterling Equities as the two firms are planning to build a $3 billion, roughly 60-acre mixed-use development on the Queens site. The complex is slated to include a shopping mall and 2,500 residential units, of which at least 35% will be affordable.
The tenants that comprise Sunrise Coop, who primarily are auto repair shops, have been holdouts in moving from the location. However, the group has agreed to accept nearly $2 million in incentives available to groups of five or more Willets Point tenants who agree to relocate together, adds the Wall Street Journal.
In total, there were 130 businesses at the site and approximately 50 tenants continue to insist on staying. Some have reported that brokers hired by the city to help the businesses relocate bring the prospective tenants to sites that aren't available for lease while they also fear there is no other place in the city for “messy” industrial businesses, the Journal says.
Undoubtedly hoping to end the impasse, the city is planning to meet with the holdout tenants in the coming weeks and the NYC Economic Development Corp. has another $12 million in its budget to provide relocation resources. City officials hope to have the area mostly vacated by the spring.
Related did not respond to a request for comment by press time. The firm entered a joint venture with Sterling for the Willets Point project that's known as Queens Development LLC.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
