For years, residents of the northwest Bronx have been salivating over the potential benefits of a plot of city-owned land in Kingsbridge at Broadway and West 230th Street, currently occupied by a parking lot.
In an effort to expand retail offerings in the area, the New York City Economic Development Corporation sought interest from developers in August 2004, but residents have had to wait more than two years for word that a still undefined project will go forward. In January 2006, the corporation selected Kingsbridge Crossing, a joint development of Ceruzzi Holdings, a Fairfield, Conn.-based development and property management firm, and the Blumenfeld Development Group of Syosset, New York, as the winning bidders to develop the plot.
A year later, Janel Patterson, a spokesperson for the EDC, and Jamie Van Bramer, a spokesperson for Ceruzzi Holdings, said that they could not discuss the project due to ongoing negotiations between the two parties. Local leaders see the project, reported to include major retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond and grocery retailer Whole Foods, as the linchpin of a revitalization of the Kingsbridge shopping district. However, the lack of progress since the developer was named leaves many wondering about the future of the project and the future of Kingsbridge in general.
Kingsbridge, which runs along a stretch of Broadway between West 230th and West 240th Streets, enjoys proximity to neighboring, upscale Riverdale, and both neighborhoods are isolated from the rest of the Bronx by barriers both natural (the Hudson and Harlem Rivers) and man-made (Van Cortlandt Park and the Major Deegan Expressway). Though it’s landlocked, with Marble Hill to the south, and sits only a brief train ride away from the rest of Manhattan, Kingsbridge has failed to see the same type of gentrification as outer borough communities like Brooklyn’s Williamsburg or St. George in Staten Island. A lack of retail development is part of the problem.
Even Inwood and Washington Heights, uptown Manhattan communities within walking distance of Kingsbridge, have far outpaced their Bronx neighbor in terms of urban renewal.
Local leaders are quick to point out that the decline of a once-bustling Kingsbridge shopping district has played a major role in keeping Kingsbridge depressed while housing prices in neighboring Riverdale continue to soar. Local real estate brokers estimate that a one-bedroom apartment in Kingsbridge rents from $900 to $1,100 per month, while just north in Riverdale the same apartment can start at as much as $1,400.
Retail rents between the two communities are much more similar. Riverdale retail space averages $35 per square foot, though some locations can run as high as $70 per square foot. In Kingsbridge, rents can run around $50 per square foot, though some space at a nearby Marble Hill shopping center, where Target is the anchor tenant, has run as low as $30 per square foot.
Right now, much of the Kingsbridge shopping district is occupied by fast-food restaurants, numerous 99-cent stores and bodegas, and a handful of established mom-and-pop shops. The bigger retailers are Lot Less Closeouts and a Stop & Shop supermarket. Staples, the largest retailer in Kingsbridge, anchors one shopping center. Across the street is a fruit stand, a storefront offering low-cost legal services and quickie divorces, and a defunct hot wings franchise.
Though neither the Ceruzzi-Blumenfeld partnership nor the city will discuss prospective retail tenants in the planned shopping center, the lineup is expected to include several major national retailers, something the area currently lacks in number. At a meeting of Bronx Community Board 8 last September, Fred Ceruzzi, a principal of Ceruzzi Holdings, said the project would bring a mix of local and national retailers, a movie theater and about 300 underground parking spots. Since then, there have been reports that Bed Bath & Beyond, grocery retailer Whole Foods and national bookstore chains have expressed interest in the project.
Joan Kuzniar, a broker with Robert E. Hill Real Estate in Kingsbridge, said that the inclusion of higher-quality national retailers would usher in a retail renaissance throughout Kingsbridge.
“In the long run, as these leases run out, landlords would probably move to double or triple the rents, which would likely lead to more chain stores. And those current retailers are not going to be able to afford those rents,” she said. “It may very well change the entire retail landscape, eventually.”
Though small retailers might have a harder time when the new development eventually opens its doors, Kuzniar said she thinks that those mom-and-pop stores would benefit from the increased traffic the mall would bring to the area.
She notes that the Marble Hill development, which opened in August 2004, brought with it not just bigger retailers but an influx of shoppers to the area, allowing local vendors to piggyback on the major retailers’ success in the area. “Target doesn’t seem to affect a lot of the mom-and-pop stores, in fact it seems to bring them more customers. There could be the same spillover effect,” she said.
Though they are loath to say it publicly, the grand dream of many of Riverdale’s power elite is that the Kingsbridge Crossing development will kick off the gentrification of the Kingsbridge area. As the theory goes, if the 99-cent stores that litter the neighborhood were forced out of business by higher rents, their clientele would follow, and the poorer residents of Kingsbridge would be replaced by middle-class tenants. It is a possibility, said Robert Wachsman, a broker with local agent Riverdale Homes, but one that would take years to implement.
“If they bring in high-end retailers, it might change the neighborhood a bit. But that’s going to take a long time,” said Wachsman, who added that the stores that will reportedly be included as part of Kingsbridge Crossing — though better than many of the neighborhood’s current retail offerings — would still not be within the upper echelon of shopping opportunities. “I don’t know if that translates into improving the residential area right away.”
Wachsman figures that a total overhaul of the residential stock of Kingsbridge would probably take at least 10 to 15 years. Landlords will not allow their apartments to stay vacant, said Wachsman, and that prevents any quick overhaul of the neighborhood’s residential offerings. “If somebody sees the commercial space going for $50 a square foot, they might think, ‘Maybe I can get more, maybe I can rent this $800 one-bedroom for $1,200,'” said Wachsman. “If you put in nicer stuff, it might be more attractive to live in Kingsbridge, especially because the subway is right there. But that is going to take some time.”
Despite hopes for the project and its impact on the area, observers worry that the longer the process drags on, the less likely it is that those hopes will be realized.
“I’m very concerned that this has taken much longer than expected. I’m not blaming anyone, but I’m very concerned,” said New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the district and is a long-time advocate of retail development at the site. “We’re missing the benefit this mall will bring to the community, which is not just the jobs and the economic engine, but the shopping opportunities, as well,” said the assemblyman. “It just keeps dragging along, and every minute of delay costs money. It’s very frustrating.”