In a press release sent out this morning, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition announced what it called a 'historic' community benefits agreement with the partners with the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, one of two developers vying to take over the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory.
Negotiations are heating up for what could be a landmark benefits agreement between a grassroots community group and a developer looking to take over the Kingsbridge Armory. But both sides are playing their cards close to their vests as the city negotiates with both of the finalists who want to redevelop the Armory.
Hope for the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, the largest armory in the world and one of the northwest Bronx’s most fascinating and potential-filled pieces of undeveloped property, was resurrected in 2012.
Bronx Community Board 7 and the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance have forged a partnership to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement for the coming redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory. It's an interesting partnership given that the two sides were often at odds in 2009 over a previous proposal to turn the Armory into a shopping mall.
After more than 15 years of vacancy and several failed redevelopment efforts, it took a storm of unprecedented proportions to put the Kingsbridge Armory back to extended use. It’s now the site of the largest storm relief effort in the Bronx, bringing much-needed food, supplies, cleaning materials and manpower to the region’s most ravaged communities.
The two competing bidders looking to redevelop the vacant Kingsbridge Armory into something both profitable and beneficial to the community gave their final pitch to local residents last week at a forum hosted by Community Board 7.
During a forum tonight at Monroe College (6:30 p.m., 2501 Jerome Ave.), the two competing developers looking to revamp the Bronx's long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory will have a chance to talk face-to-face with the community. It might be their last opportunity to sway locals into their corner before the city's Economic Development Corporation, which is controlled by the mayor, makes a decision on which group gets the bid.
On Monday, representatives from the two development groups looking to transform the Kingsbridge Armory -- Young Woo & Associates and the Kingsbridge National Ice Center -- sat down with Gary Axelbank on BronxTalk to discuss their plans and how each will benefit the Bronx.
Basketball courts. A shopping center. A gym. While there have been many proposals over the past 20 years for ways to make use of the vacant Kingsbridge Armory, the one concept that seems to be sticking is also the one that is most foreign to Bronx residents: a hockey rink. But Bronx youth aren't too excited about the possibility.
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