City to finalize deal for $300M mixed-use redevelopment of Bronx jail site

Hudson Companies and partners plan 5-acre project with 740 affordable units

David Kramer and Rafael Salamanca with renderings of "the Peninsula"
David Kramer and Rafael Salamanca with renderings of "the Peninsula"

UPDATED, March 15, 11:53 a.m.: Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council are ready to move forward with the redevelopment of a former juvenile jail in the Bronx into a sprawling mixed-use development.

The Council’s Land Use Committee on Thursday voted to approve the $300 million plan, Politico reported.

Hudson Companies, Gilbane Development and the Mutual Housing Association of New York plan to develop the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center into a five-acre complex dubbed “the Peninsula” with 740 units of affordable housing, 52,00 square feet of recreational space and 49,000 square feet of light industrial space.

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The juvenile jail closed in 2011 following years of protests from advocates pushing for criminal justice reform.

Local City Council member and new Land Use chair Rafael Salamanca negotiated a deal that ensures the units that are not permanently rent regulated will stay below market rate for 60 years.

“When I was a kid, this was a place where it was drug-infested [and had] prostitution and crime,” he said. “This jail that closed down in 2011 has just been sitting there vacant, dark.” [Politico] – Rich Bockmann