The City’s Economic Development corporation issued a request for proposals to develop a 200,000-square-foot rooftop farm in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx that would be one of the world’s largest such farms, Architecture News reported.
The request calls for private developers to build nearly 10 acres of farming space on the roof of a Hunts Point warehouse, at 660 Food Center Drive, that houses distribution facilities for Sultana Distribution and Citarella, according to DNAinfo. The warehouse is part of the larger 329-acre food distribution center that includes the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market, the Cooperative Meat Market and the New Fulton Fish Market, which together represent 115 private wholesalers, generating $3 billion worth of food sales a year and feeding 23 million customers.
“With the opportunity to build one of the world’s largest rooftop farms,” EDC president Seth Pinsky said, “we will create important new opportunities to connect producers and distributors, greatly enhancing the existing food network and generating new jobs for Bronx residents.” [DNAInfo] and [Architecture News]