The Hunts Point wholesale produce market in the South Bronx has identified multiple sites in New Jersey for a potential relocation of what is said to be the largest such facility in the world, according to an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal by Sumathi Reddy.
"The one-million-square-foot market employs 3,000 union workers and supplies restaurants and grocery stores throughout the tri-state region. Currently, the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Association leases a 110-acre site, but the lease expires in May," the article said.
The cooperative, the article continued, is also continuing serious negotiations with New York City over the terms of building a new facility in Hunts Point, an industrial section of the South Bronx that's been the market's home since it moved from downtown Manhattan in 1967. State officials have recently become involved in the talks.
"It's one of the most important economic development goals for the city right now, to retain the market and retain these jobs," said Maria Alvarado, a spokeswoman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn," the article said.
The market has faced increasing competition as other wholesale warehouses have sprouted up around it, the article said, adding that "merchants and customers alike say the facility is antiquated and too small. Produce is often stored in trailers because of space constraints. 'You have product that isn't being properly cared for in the refrigeration or the cold chain to keep things in great shape, and that means product will start to go downhill quickly,' said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, a trade group."
'The main sticking point in negotiations with the city," the article said, "is the financing of a new facility. The cooperative estimates a new market would cost $320 million in New York, but substantially less in New Jersey. Furthermore, the cooperative wants equity in the facility if it is contributing to its cost. The cooperative also wants to lower its rent, currently $5.4 million a year."
Stephen Katzman, co-president of the cooperative, which consists of about 44 merchants, said if they choose to move to New Jersey the choice really comes down to two sites within 10 miles of the bridge and tunnel, the article said, "one in the Meadowlands area and the other in Newark. 'New Jersey offers some tremendous incentives, tax incentives, payroll tax incentives,' he said. 'But if we move to New Jersey the worry is will [the customers follow?'"
"The one-million-square-foot market employs 3,000 union workers and supplies restaurants and grocery stores throughout the tri-state region. Currently, the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Association leases a 110-acre site, but the lease expires in May," the article said.
The cooperative, the article continued, is also continuing serious negotiations with New York City over the terms of building a new facility in Hunts Point, an industrial section of the South Bronx that's been the market's home since it moved from downtown Manhattan in 1967. State officials have recently become involved in the talks.
"It's one of the most important economic development goals for the city right now, to retain the market and retain these jobs," said Maria Alvarado, a spokeswoman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn," the article said.
The market has faced increasing competition as other wholesale warehouses have sprouted up around it, the article said, adding that "merchants and customers alike say the facility is antiquated and too small. Produce is often stored in trailers because of space constraints. 'You have product that isn't being properly cared for in the refrigeration or the cold chain to keep things in great shape, and that means product will start to go downhill quickly,' said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, a trade group."
'The main sticking point in negotiations with the city," the article said, "is the financing of a new facility. The cooperative estimates a new market would cost $320 million in New York, but substantially less in New Jersey. Furthermore, the cooperative wants equity in the facility if it is contributing to its cost. The cooperative also wants to lower its rent, currently $5.4 million a year."
Stephen Katzman, co-president of the cooperative, which consists of about 44 merchants, said if they choose to move to New Jersey the choice really comes down to two sites within 10 miles of the bridge and tunnel, the article said, "one in the Meadowlands area and the other in Newark. 'New Jersey offers some tremendous incentives, tax incentives, payroll tax incentives,' he said. 'But if we move to New Jersey the worry is will [the customers follow?'"
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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