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Q&A
Council Member Riley inquires about tenant outreach for 438 Concord Avenue mixed-use development
2:25:19
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169 sec
Council Member Kevin Riley asks about outreach efforts to potential tenants for the commercial and community facility spaces in the proposed mixed-use development at 438 Concord Avenue. Richard Lobel, representing the applicant, responds with details about their experience, plans for local engagement, and potential commercial tenants.
- The applicant has experience with similar projects like MyHub Studios in Bushwick
- Plans include engaging local artists, wellness professionals, and other small businesses
- Outreach has begun for potential food stores and bank branches
- The project is in a FRESH food eligible area, and a FRESH application is being considered
Kevin Riley
2:25:19
Thank you so much.
2:25:20
Just leave just one question.
2:25:23
While this proposal for a truly mixed use development is on excuse me.
2:25:28
While this proposal for a truly mixed use development is on the one hand exciting, it also raises the challenges of finding and retaining suitable tenants.
2:25:37
Can you please describe your outreach thus far with groups interested in the commercial and community facility space proposed?
2:25:44
And furthermore, the community board has expressed that local entrepreneurs, artists, and manufacturers should be given preference for the available space in the development.
2:25:55
Can you speak to that specific request and how you might be able to work with the community to find suitable tenants?
Richard Lobel
2:26:01
Happy to discuss that directly, and then I'd ask Alejandro if he has any additional comments.
2:26:05
So, we've got an applicant here who is really engaged and has been attending community board meetings since prior to his application, really wants to dig in and see what he can do as far as this community is concerned.
2:26:17
The first thing is that he and his partners have experience with similar commercial space with MyHub Studios in Bushwick.
2:26:23
Again, over 95% occupancy, they take in local artists.
2:26:27
And I think the creativity is they allow them to come in in small studio spaces, 2 100, 2 50, 300 square feet.
2:26:35
There's recording studios in there.
2:26:36
There's wellness professionals.
2:26:38
So it's an it's a project which has really been embraced by the local community.
2:26:42
Similarly, here, given their prior experience, they intend to engage the local community and allow for this local utilization.
2:26:49
We heard the community board's opinion in terms of that studio space.
2:26:53
And Alejandra and I have talked about the fact that we will make an effort of both both within the local community as well as through the Bronx borough president's office to engage local stakeholders and get more local people into that space.
2:27:06
It, frankly, it makes the most sense for people in the area to use that commercial space, and we're going to make every effort to do so.
2:27:13
The second thing with regards to the commercial use generally, Alejandro has already reached out, to various commercial potential commercial tenants, most importantly to, to he's looked at potential food stores and also looked at potential bank branches of particularly, desirable use in terms of the opinion of, deputy speaker Ayala.
2:27:34
And so we've made that outreach already.
2:27:36
He and his partner have experience with certain banks, and so they've been able to do that.
2:27:40
And we also, would just, as an aside, bring up the fact that this is in a fresh food eligible area.
2:27:46
And so we've talked internally about bringing a fresh application after potential rezoning in order to ensure, a food store will be utilizing the site.
2:27:55
So all of that together with, the other uses in the building, we think make this, as the chair said, a very exciting project, and we're looking forward to, further engaging the community in order to do that.
Kevin Riley
2:28:07
Thank you.