Consider the Bronx, One of the Hottest Destinations in the City for Day Trips, Dining, Sports L and Recreation
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ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS EXPLORE THE BRONX Bronx-Whitestone Bridge ooking for some exciting activities to add to your calendar? Consider the Bronx, one of the hottest destinations in the city for day trips, dining, sports L and recreation. The Bronx is now an increasingly sought-after location for investment by commercial real estate investors involved in hotel development, retail and more. It’s hard to run out of things do in this borough, home to famous attractions including the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden and Yankee Stadium. For foodies, there are plenty of culinary choices to explore in Bronx neighborhoods such as the historic seaport community City Island and Arthur Avenue, also known as the Little Italy of the Bronx. Currently in the works are additional new eateries, located in former Bronx General Post Office building. And history buffs will find no shortage of interesting sites in the borough, from the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage, where the famous poet once lived, and Woodlawn Cemetery, which dates back to the Civil War era. The Bronx is bursting with excitement, not to mention the many action-packed events that take place there year-round. This year, the Bronx Walk of Fame inducted the legendary medical-device entrepreneur Manny Villafaña, hip-hop DJ Funkmaster Flex, actress Selenis Leyva and singer and songwriter Prince Royce. Their names will appear on street signs along a 2-mile strip of the Grand Concourse. Coming up are SalsaFest, a month-long festival in August that will feature many live music performances, and the Tour de Bronx cycling event on October 22. To help you tap into all that the borough has to offer, Crain’s has partnered with the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Office of the Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. Read on for a closer look at what’s going on. Photo credit: iStock ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS EXPLORE THE BRONX Creatives, Craft Brewers and Café Owners Flock to New Spaces Something of a Katz said the 4-story, 181,000-square-foot building hotel boomlet is has received a lot of interest from potential ten- also underway in ants, including big-box retailers, charter schools the South Bronx, and the entertainment sector, among others. “We City National is the bank with potentially as are open to seeing what makes the most sense many as 10 inns for the building and the area, but at the moment under construc- there is nothing firm,” said Katz, who is also CEO tion that will serve of Interstate Outdoor Advertising Inc., a billboard local residents, company. built on client referrals. business clientele and no small num- Katz said the family bought the building for the in- ber of European come from the billboard on the roof, now owned by Top Ranked in Client Referrals.* tourists eager for Clear Channel Outdoor, but left the building empty an alternative to after the last tenant, a furniture company, moved the Disney, Times out, and the family tended to other business. “I Hayloft Auctions‘ Laura Doyle, Square, New York think it was left empty in part because we’re not vice chairman/executive vice president and Brian Corcoran, director experience. typically real estate developers and that wasn’t why we originally bought it,” he said. “It just wasn’t There will also be our focus. But now that we’ve partnered with a aura Doyle had her eye on the Bronx for about four new Metro North stations in the borough. developer we are going to make it beautiful and 15 years. Driving from Manhattan to the now make sure it becomes a very active, vibrant part of Richard Moon L closed ABC Carpet & Home Outlet with her “They will be for people looking for a cheaper the community.” husband was a favorite junket, as much as for the alternative to Long Island City and Brooklyn, with Owner, shopping as for the fascinating old warehouses she tremendous subway access,” according to David spotted along the way. Though rooted in the Upper Simone, senior director, Cushman & Wakefield Richard Moon & East Side since the early 70s, Doyle always had the commercial brokers. Doyle also looked to Long thought of getting more space for the family auction Island City when planning to expand her family Associates CPAs business in the back of her mind. business, but likewise was put off by prices. “I Cozette Vergari Referred Cozette to needed to do it in a cost-effective way and that’s “The potential was so obvious,” said Doyle of the hard to do in Long Island City where as an end user Owner, City National Bronx. “But we didn’t have the nerve.” you are competing with developers,” she said. Vergari & Napolitano Eighteen months ago, however, Doyle pulled the trig- Prices for office space in the South Bronx remain Attorneys ger on 10,000 square feet of space in Port Morris and much cheaper than in other areas of the city, accord- made it the home to Hayloft Auctions, the two-year- ing to Tom Farrell, managing partner at Savanna, old, online-only division of the family’s eponymous which owns the Bruckner Building at 2417 Third company founded in 1962 by her father, William. As Ave., as well as the Falchi Building, one of the first View of Bruckner Building from vice chairman of Doyle, Laura Doyle will soon add buzz-worthy factory conversions in Long Island City. the Third Avenue Bridge another 10,000 square feet to the Bronx location of Hayloft Auctions, which she founded. Farrell said the Bruckner Building is about 45% leased, with prices in the high $20 per-square-foot Many new arrivals to the South Bronx’s commer- Along with other creative businesses like the statio- range. By comparison, prices at Falchi are in the cial space can be considered nontraditional, such nery company Bronx Design Group, Italian mosaic low 40s range, while properties in Dumbo are at as a manufacturer of high-end furniture or a com- tile-maker Sicis and noted bakers of pastel-colored $60 per square foot and Downtown Brooklyn prop- pany that makes underwater drones, both of which French-style macarons, Woops!, Hayloft is among erties are in the mid-50s. Properties in Manhat- have leases in the Bruckner Building. Also fueling the newcomers to the new South Bronx as the area tan’s Financial District, the cheapest of all major the market and upping the demand for small develops into long-awaited commercial critical mass. markets in Manhattan, are also priced in the $50 businesses that create jobs are large companies per-square-foot range, according to Farrell. moving into the area, including Fresh Direct’s new Detractors historically have pointed to a lack of headquarters, featuring a 10-mile long conveyor amenities and good restaurants in the area but that is Brokers note a lack of buildings to buy as owners belt, set to open later this year. Meanwhile, Jetro, changing, too. New food and beverage options in the hold onto assets and wait for prices to go up even the wholesale grocery supplier, is adding a facility South Bronx include Grady’s Cold Brew, the Bronx Ale further. Cushman Wakefield’s Simone sees the in Hunt’s Point. According to Marlene Cintron, House, and the Port Morris Distillery, among others. effect this is having on office space available for president of the Bronx Overall Economic Develop- The Gun Hill Tavern, which opened last fall, is the rent in a corridor that extends past 161st Street, ment Corporation, a Canadian company that has a favorite watering hole of production teams filming considered the northern border of the South tentative contract with the MTA has an option on a at Silvercup North, the Bronx outpost of Silvercup Bronx, and north to 175th Street. “Vacancy rates 20,000-square-foot property in Port Morris. Studios in Queens, which opened last summer. are extremely low,” he said. “You will continue to see sale prices and rents go up.” Some observers say that progress in the South Currently being renovated, the former Bronx Gen- Bronx has been slow since developers began buy- eral Post Office has secured a grocery store as a There is finally some movement at 20 Bruckner ing and converting properties in the early 2000s. ground-level tenant and a fine-dining restaurant for Blvd., formerly known as the History Channel In any case, properties like the Bruckner Building the roof, where it added a fourth story, according to Building because of the channel’s billboard that and iHeartRadio are making up for lost time to Margarette Lee, partner of Youngwoo Associates, stood on the roof for 15 years but has since been the great satisfaction of everyone involved. “The ® the project’s developers. A food hall called Bruckner replaced by a sign for iHeartRadio. Demolition is demand has been fantastic and it is moving at a Call (917) 322-5245 to learn more or visit cnb.com/referrals. The way up. Market is being developed at 9 Bruckner Blvd. by in full force, according to Drew Katz, whose family much faster pace than expected,” said Farrell. “We Somerset Partners, who are also part of the group owns the building in partnership with Maddd Eq- knew, going out, that the market was good, but we behind a massive South Bronx residential and water- uities and Jorge Madruga. Basic interior finishing thought it would take longer to get this active and *Based on interviews conducted by Greenwich Associates in 2016 with more than 15,000 executives at mid-size businesses across the country with sales of $10-500 million.