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Willets Point auto shops settle lawsuit with city, developers
Agreement includes creation of $5.8M escrow fund to help businesses relocate to the Bronx
A group of automotive businesses in Queens have settled a lawsuit with the city and the developers of Willets Point, creating a big step forward toward the realization of the Related Companies’ and Sterling Equities’ $3 billion residential development and mega-mall there.
Under the agreement, which was reached earlier this month, all litigation was dropped and a $5.8 million escrow fund was created to help the relocation of the automotive businesses — which together make up the Sunrise Cooperative — to the Bronx, according to Crain’s. The money will help pay for the renovation of the cooperative’s new location at 1080 Leggett Avenue in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx.
The city will pay $4.8 million and developers the Related Companies and Sterling Equities are providing $960,000 to the escrow fund. The Sunrise Cooperative will chip in $143,000, Crain’s reported.
The businesses at the location are vacating Willets Point by June 1, according to the website.
“The relocation of the Sunrise Cooperative represents a critical step in the advancement of the Willets Point development, which will bring thousands of jobs, units of housing and square feet of retail space to northern Queens,” Economic Development Corporation President Kyle Kimball told the website. [Crain’s] — Claire Moses