Groundbreaking Ceremony Welcomes New Shopping Center In The Bronx

I saw this story on TV and thought that I had never seen people so happy to see a mall built in their neighborhood. This is definitely part of a trend.
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Groundbreaking Ceremony Welcomes New Shopping Center In The Bronx

March 14, 2006

After three decades of debating, a new shopping center was finally welcomed to the South Bronx with a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday.

The mayor and other elected officials took part in the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site for the new "Hub Retail and Office Center" that stretches along Third Avenue for three long blocks between 153rd and 156th Streets.

The two-story building will serve as the main offices for the City's Department of Finance, and retail chains like Rite Aid and Staples also plan to set up shop.

"I'm very excited," says Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion. "Two-hundred-thousand square feet of office space in the South Bronx is great. This site was one of the casualties of the burning Bronx in the 1970s and the horrible thing that happened to inner city communities all over the country. And now this is a symbol of the new Bronx This is a new vitality we haven't seen in a long time."

Third Avenue used to be the shopping mecca for the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, but over the years it lost its appeal as big name stores like Alexander's, Thom McAnn's Lerner's and The Wiz moved or went out of business.

Plans to develop the site and revitalize the area have been in the works for three decades but always fell through. Year after year promises were made to develop the mall, but hurdles and setbacks continually kept the project from becoming a reality.

Members of the business district say the lack of development at the site has hurt them since the 1970s.

"It definitely hurt business,” said Vincent Valentino of the group Hub Third Avenue B.I.D. “They tore down stores about 35, 36 years ago and they were supposed to build housing but they didn't because there was no money in the city."

Related Companies purchased the property from the city for $1 million and will build a two story commercial building estimated to cost $57 million.

Related is the company also developing the controversial gateway mall at the Bronx terminal market not far away from Third Avenue.

The mayor says it's all a big boost for the borough.

"Whether it is Hunts Point or the Bronx Terminal Market or Yankee Stadium or the new business improvement district on Fordham Road, the Bronx really is open for business in a way it has not been for decades."

The local community board is overjoyed with the future jobs and business for the area.

"We did not capitulate,” said Community Board 1 chairman George Rodriguez. “We kept going on and on until it was a reality."

More than 200 new construction jobs will be created for the project, along with about 225 full-time positions once the center opens in 2008.

– Dean Meminger