The first public hearing was held on the latest redevelopment project for the Kingsbridge Armory, “The Kingsbridge Center (El Centro Kingsbridge),” on May 28 as part of the required steps in the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) process, as reported, and a 60-day community board review led by Bronx Community Board 7.

 

NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) selected 8th Regiment Partners, a joint venture between Maddd Equities and Joy Construction, to develop the Kingsbridge Armory in January after a lengthy Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Council Member Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14) said at the first hearing, “Today is a major milestone for the Kingsbridge Armory’s third attempt at redevelopment, but we’ve never been in as strong footing as we are today, with over $220 million committed from the City and the State.”

 

Meanwhile, Sandra Lobo, executive director for the Northwest Bronx Community Clergy Coalition, said, “Throughout these three decades, Northwest Bronx has held one clear belief, that the people of The Bronx are the experts on what their communities need. It’s not enough to include community engagement only to make decisions about our neighborhoods and rooms far from the people they affect. Residents deserve a meaningful role in determining what happens here, especially with a site as important as the Armory.”

 

It was confirmed during the hearing that a 16-story, mixed-use building will be built on the northern side (East 195th Street) of the Kingsbridge Armory for housing as part of Phase II of the redevelopment. Officials say 500 low-affordable housing projects will be available. The ground floor of the building is currently proposed for use as retail space.

 

The main points confirmed during the first hearing were as follows:

During the hearing, there were questions raised by community members as to what the housing at the Kingsbridge Armory would look like, similar to the questions which had been raised by residents with Norwood News in advance of the hearing.

 

Madison Hernandez, assistant VP at EDC’s government and community relations team, said of the plan, “We collected over 900 survey responses to understand these community priorities, brought over 500 community members inside of the armory; engaged with this body over nine times, hosted 16 small group discussions, held three public information sessions, and heard from over 75 industry stakeholders, and so, we like to kind of put this out there, so folks can really grasp that this was not a top-down process, but it was truly built from the ground up with the voices of the folks in this room.”

Officials also said the main Kingsbridge Armory drill hall will have a variety of uses, including a 60,000 square-foot, flexible event space, community spaces, and workforce development spaces, while including sustainability features like solar panels and energy efficient systems. Officials also reconfirmed that the developers plan to hire members of the local community to work on the project.

 

Hearings will continue as the Armory project proceeds through the required stages of the ULURP process. The next public hearing will take place on June 3, at 5:30 p.m. at Kingsbridge Armory headhouse, at the intersection of West Kingsbridge Road and Davidson Avenue, Bronx.

 

Agallas Equities had also submitted an RFP bid, as had Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), but neither was selected. NWBCCC was a key stakeholder in the Together for Kingsbridge envisioning process for the armory which took place over the course of about a year.

 

Agallas Equities has since filed a lawsuit against EDC, 8th Regiment Partners, and various current and former politicians and City officials, broadly alleging “a troubling pattern of political interference, procedural violations, and apparent intellectual property theft that [allegedly] corrupted what should have been a fair and transparent [RFP] public process.” Agallas has also asked NYC Department of Investigations (DOI) to investigate a potential conflict of interest in relation to the selection of 8th Regiment Partners. The City denies any wrongdoing. More can be read on the topic here.

 

Manny Tavarez of Agallas Equities also recently dismissed remarks made by NYC Mayor Eric Adams on the possibility of creating a microchip production plant at the armory citing health and other concerns.