Willets Point Businesses Agree to Bronx Move
By Gus Delaporte March 10, 2014 4:30 pm
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A group of between 40 and 60 businesses has signed a lease to relocate from Willets Point, Queens to Hunts Point in the Bronx, paving the way for Related Companies’ and Sterling Equities’ proposed mixed-use development in the shadow of Citi Field.
The businesses, known collectively as the Sunrise Cooperative, are eligible for approximately $2 million in funds allocated for area tenants relocating in groups of five or more, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. In total, the city has set aside $3 million for relocating businesses. The money is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
“We’ve had success moving individual businesses, but we realized in the [public approval] process that there was a core set of businesses that was symbiotic and that co-location was going to strengthen their business,” Kyle Kimball, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, told the Journal.
To date, two-thirds of approximately 130 area businesses have agreed to relocate, the Journal reported. The city expects to have the neighborhood vacated by the spring.
Known in the past for its collection of auto-repair shops and salvage yards, Willets Point is the target of a $3 billion redevelopment plan by Queens Development LLC, a joint venture between Related and Sterling Equities.
