A Moonshot plan to fill a cavernous, dilapidated armory in the Bronx

It’s called the the world’s largest arsenal – a palatial fortress in the middle of the northwest Bronx, with turrets overlooking the subway station.

But for nearly three decades, the Kingsbridge Armory has languished, despite grand plans by mega-developers, billionaire investors and celebrities to repurpose the 50,000-square-foot landmark.

Now an unusual community-led partnership aims to succeed where those efforts failed, creating an economic and cultural hub for those who live and work in the predominantly low-income neighborhood. It hopes to bring high-tech manufacturing jobs, a live performance space, new businesses and affordable housing to the city’s site.

The proposed development, if selected by city officials, would be led by the municipality Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalitionan influential nonprofit that has been fighting for racial justice, affordable housing and economic development in the city’s poorest neighborhood since 1974. The plan emerged from years of frustration among community leaders and residents tired of being sidelined from previous plans for the armory. .

“We’ve been fighting back for a long time,” said Sandra Lobo, the coalition’s executive director. “It’s time to fight forward.”

Ms. Lobo was tapped by the city to help lead a nine-month community initiative process that shaped the priorities for the armory’s redevelopment. Her group decided to submit its own proposal.

The community-led development would be one of the first of its kind in New York and could mark a major change in the way moonshot projects are built, community leaders and economic development experts say. Across the country, a growing number of cities are seeing similar approaches to development projects as a way to create better-paying jobs, especially in poor and minority areas.

The estimated $1 billion redevelopment of the Armory, a 1917 Romanesque arsenal on about five acres in Kingsbridge Heights that once housed the National Guard, would be one of the city’s most ambitious projects. The largest part of the coalition’s proposal is a production space of up to 90,000 square meters for light industry, such as 3D printing, coffee roasting or carpentry.

The coalition is working with Cross Street Partners, a Baltimore-based developer with expertise in repurposing old buildings, and Urbane, a New York-based developer. The project has already received support from potential investors and union leaders, Ms. Lobo said.

Up to 20,000 square feet would go to a commercial kitchen and commissary to serve food cart vendors and train culinary staff, among other things. There would be food stalls offering local Dominican dishes, crafts and space for a distillery.

The group is also in talks with Live Nation to build a 5,000- to 30,000-person performance space for live music and other events in the region. 35 meter high, column-free drill hallwhere the National Guard conducted military exercises.

A separate phase of development would create about 200 permanently affordable apartments on the site of two adjacent brick buildings, Ms. Lobo said.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is administering the selection process, estimates that the site’s redevelopment could create more than 1,800 jobs, including 1,100 in construction, and generate up to $10 billion in economic impact.

Perhaps nowhere in the city needs the support more than the Bronx. The community district surrounding the armory has a median household income of less than $42,000, compared to the city average of nearly $75,000, and nearly 30 percent of local residents live below the poverty line, according to a census analysis by Social Explorer, a data survey. company.

The gun proposal is part of a broader movement toward community-led development in cities — including Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Cincinnati — that has successfully created more higher-paying jobs in manufacturing and other industries over the past decade, J said .Phillip. Thompson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former deputy mayor in the de Blasio administration.

“I’m starting to see a lot of communities all over the country follow a similar approach toward economic development,” Mr. Thompson said. “One way to ensure that good jobs stay in the city is to have local ownership.”

In North Carolina, the Industrial Commonsan education and business development organization, has helped start and develop employee-owned businesses such as Material return, which recycles and reuses textiles, including turning used wool socks into new ones. It is also redevelopment of a 27 hectare brownfield for production and training programs.

The Kingsbridge Armory, with its imposing red brick walls and battlements, stands next to the elevated 4 train that runs along Jerome Avenue, one of the busiest commercial corridors in the neighborhood. On a recent morning, a film crew was shooting a TV series in the cavernous drill hall, while outside, along a chain-link fence, street vendors sold winter coats.

After the armory was decommissioned in the 1990s, and even during the military operation, the building was used for various purposes: motorboat shows; car racing in the “Speedrome”; bullfighting rodeos; wrestling fights; and film recordings, including for the popular series ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’. It was also used as an emergency center during the pandemic.

But the expansive space, including the 180,000-square-foot drill hall, about the size of three football fields, has remained largely empty. since 1996, when ownership returned to New York City – a constant reminder of the Bronx’s untapped potential. In recent decades, plans to turn the armory into a shopping center and skating complex failed.

The community-led proposal could face stiff competition. A public list of companies that have expressed interest in redeveloping the arsenal include Steiner Studios, the film and television production studio, and Agritecture, an urban agriculture consulting group.

A spokesperson for Agritecture confirmed that the group is participating in a separate bid. Steiner Studios declined to comment.

Andrew Kimball, the president of the Economic Development Corporation, would not discuss specific proposals because the selection process is ongoing.

Unlike previous efforts, the latest redevelopment effort will be supported $200 million in city and state funding. And the city began the project with a community engagement process to understand what local residents wanted, Mr. Kimball said.

The EDC expects to select a proposal in about nine months, and the winner, who will receive a long-term lease for the site, must then pass the land use review process. Construction could start in late 2026.

Ms Lobo’s group has already lined up potential investors for their project, including National Cooperative Bank And Rochdale capital. “We see this as a serious effort and one we want to be a part of,” said John Holdsclaw IV, the president and CEO of Virginia-based Rochdale Capital.

The project has also received support from the New York City Central Labor Council, which represents the construction industry and other workers.

The Soul Snacks Cookie Company is one of the companies ready to move in. Ralph Rolle, 64, company president and CEO and professional drummer, was part of a drum and flugelhorn corps that rehearsed in the armory in the mid-1970s.

Now Mr Rolle hopes to return to open a store there. His company, which bakes cookies at a factory in the Port Morris section of the Bronx, would also use the commercial kitchen space in the armory to train aspiring bakers.

“I’m very excited about the prospect of what’s to come,” he said.