October 11, 2012 at 12:55 PM
By Alex Kratz
Developers will be presenting their plans to revamp and revitalize the vacant Kingsbridge Armory tonight at Lehman College. (Photo by Diana Perez)
During a forum tonight at Monroe College (6:30 p.m., 2501 Jerome Ave.), the two competing developers looking to revamp the Bronx?s long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory will have a chance to talk face-to-face with the community. It might be their last opportunity to sway locals into their corner before the city?s Economic Development Corporation, which is controlled by the mayor, makes a decision on which group gets the bid. (It?s unclear what the timetable is for making the Armory decision. At one point, it appeared a call would be made in September, but it?s now looking more likely that it will happen at some point before the end of the year. We have a call into the EDC to get more clarity on this.)
Community Board 7 is hosting the forum, which will feature 20-minute presentations from both proposals. Chairman Paul Foster says he hopes it gives people in the community a chance to really look at the proposals in-depth and hear from the developers themselves.
?We want it to be an informative meeting for the community,? he said, adding that the board wants to create ?an open discussion for the community.?
The two competing projects ? the world?s largest ice sports complex and a mixed-use creative market and recreation space ? offer sharp contrasts in style and substance.
A look inside the darkened Armory, which has been vacant for more than 15 years. (Photo by Diana Perez)
The group behind the Kingsbridge National Ice Center is led by Kevin Parker, an executive a former executive at Deutsche Bank, and is backed by two of the world?s biggest stars on ice ? Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Sarah Hughes and New York Rangers hockey legend Mark Messier. Their plan is to retrofit the Armory into a regional ice sports Mecca, complete with nine skating rinks, including a 5,000-seat arena and an outdoor rink. The group has also pledged to dedicate 50,000 square feet for community space and develop a low-cost youth program based on a successful model created in Philadelphia by Flyers owner Ed Snider.
The ice center group says it would invest $250 million in renovating the Armory, create nearly 1,000 temporary construction jobs and about 275 permanent jobs that would all pay a ?living wage,? $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 without. They estimate some 2 million people will visit the ice center annually.
Parker?s group expressed interest in the Armory late last summer, long before the city released its request for proposals earlier this year and their enthusiasm for the project is largely seen as the reason why the city launched another RFP for the Armory. After Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. led a charge to kill a proposal by the Related Companies to turn the Armory into a giant shopping mall, Mayor Bloomberg blasted the project?s opponents and said he didn?t see the Armory being developed in the foreseeable future. Now Diaz is pushing hard for the ice center and has enlisted the support of local elected officials, including State Senator Gustavo Rivera (who lives just a few blocks from the Armory), and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
The underdog in this race is Mercado Mirabo, the name Manhattan design firm Young Woo & Associates has given to its mixed-use project. Young Woo?s proposal has gained momentum after emerging from the original pool of proposals as a viable alternative to the ice complex and has picked up steam in recent months.
Young Woo has taken to calling its plan a ?futuristic town hall? that would be anchored with a movie theater complex that would include the nation?s first 4D theater, a Crunch gym and the world?s largest indoor climbing wall. It would also include a flexible retail market where entrepreneurs and artists could sell their wares without much overhead cost. Mercado Mirabo would include space for other recreational activities, including basketball and indoor soccer.
A view from the northwest of the Armory, which contains nearly 5 acres of space. (Photo by Diana Perez)
Since submitting its proposal, Young Woo?s proposal has evolved to include more specifics. Last spring, they partnered with the New York Gauchos, a Bronx-based youth basketball program, and Pinta and Grupo Arts, an international arts programming outfit.
But the component that is now fueling Young Woo?s late-game comeback, at least in the media, is its recent commitment to build a National Hip Hop Museum inside the Armory, which comes with the backing of Bronx hip hop stars Afrika Bambaataa and Melle Mel.
Young Woo says it will invest $100 million in the Armory and will create 1,500 jobs, 800 of them permanent, and, at least, 275 of them paying a living wage.
The Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) recently held a rally to say that whichever group wins the bid must sign onto a community benefits agreement that would include commitments to living wage jobs, a minimum of community space, no big box retail and job training programs, among other things.
Foster says he, personally, doesn?t have a preference for either project and that the board doesn?t have a plan to make a recommendation to the EDC before it makes its decision. Foster did, however, say that he wanted whatever goes into the Armory to include space for artists and community programs that would keep kids out of trouble. He mentioned the community?s desire for a hip hop museum and that the project doesn?t ?destroy the neighborhood businesses? surrounding the Armory.He also said job creation should be a factor in the EDC?s decision-making.
?In end,? Foster said, ?we?re going to have to live with this for the rest of our lives.?
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