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Armory Advocates Get First Look at Proposals

By ALEX KRATZ

After a nearly two-and-a-half month delay, the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project is back on track and the city is moving quickly toward choosing a developer.

Last Thursday, after the city abruptly dropped a controversial confidentiality agreement requirement, members of the Armory task force – an advisory group made up of local elected officials and community representatives – viewed all three of the Armory proposals.

Though financial details were not discussed and no paperwork distributed, the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the quasi-public entity handling the Armory project for the city, showed task force members the content of each developer’s plan.

For the uninitiated, the Kingbridge Armory, a giant castle-like structure on Kingsbridge Road at the corner of Jerome Avenue, which reportedly contains the largest drill hall floor in the world (a full three football fields in size), has been nearly vacant for more than a decade. Now, after much prodding from community activists, the city is turning the Armory complex into a commercial mixed-use development. The EDC is now on the verge of awarding the job to one of three developers: Rosenshein Associates, Atlantic Development Group or the Related Companies.

After viewing the proposals, Community Board 7 Chair Greg Faulkner liked what he saw. Essentially, Faulkner said, the community is in a win-win situation based on the quality of the proposals. Though he wouldn’t go into detail, Faulkner said two of the three delivered most of what the community wanted for a revamped Armory. He wasn’t as impressed by a third proposal.

Though Faulkner wouldn’t discuss much in terms of specifics, the highlights from the projects were spilled on an urban planning blog called City Skip. Faulkner confirmed that the blog’s contents were accurate.

Accorrking.

What set them apart, Faulkner sad, was the aesthetics of each. One looked more like a traditional mall, he said, while another proposal simply blew him away with how beautiful it was. One of the proposals had significantly more community space.

Faulkner said the task force will be able to say what they like and don’t like about the projects, but the group will not make a final recommendation. He added that the EDC will present the proposals to Community Board 7 sometime in June. The EDC has said it hopes to choose a developer by July.

Ed. note: Check out all the highlights from the proposal at:
http://cityskip.blogspot.com/2007/05/kingsbridge-armory-update.html

For more on the history of Armory redevelopment process, visit: ding to City Skip, the proposals contain mostly the same mix of entertainment, retail and community space. Each proposed restaurants, a bank branch, a cinema, a bookstore, one large retail anchor store and at least 30,000 square feet of community space. The proposals varied on the amount and manner of pa
http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/ongoing/armory.html

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