Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently announced the selection of Baldor Specialty Foods and Anheuser-Busch of New York to expand their businesses on two City-owned sites on the Hunts Point Peninsula in the South Bronx.
These selections allow both companies to remain in New York City and expand their rapidly growing businesses in Hunts Point, the City’s leading center of wholesale food distribution. Combined, these projects are expected to create more than 900 new permanent and construction jobs over the next three years, and retain about 830 jobs.
In addition, the projects will generate more than $50 million in private investment in the South Bronx and more than $40 million in economic activity over the next 20 years.
Baldor Specialty Foods had outgrown its current facility in Hunts Point, and was selected to occupy 155 Food Center Drive, which includes an 185,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse and distribution facility. The new site offers Baldor the opportunity to expand into larger facilities to accommodate its rapid growth, which exceeded 20 percent a year for the past five years.
Baldor has made a commitment to keep its 510 workers and expects to add 450 new jobs over the next three years, and will expand its commitment to hire new employees from the community. The new facility is expected to be ready for operation by summer 2006.
EDC issued the lease offering for the 12.8-acre site in September 2005. The site is bounded by Food Center Drive to the north and east, the Hunts Point Co-operative Meat Market to the south, and the Consolidated Edison substation to the west.
“We at Baldor would like to say how pleased we are to be awarded the building at 155 Food Center Drive,” said Baldor CEO Kevin Murphy. “We recognize that several worthy businesses vied for the opportunity to take advantage of this premier site. Baldor is investing millions of dollars to keep our company thriving in the Bronx and to make this site a state-of-the-art headquarters for our food service distribution needs.”
Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis-based beverage giant, was selected to develop a 167,000 square foot warehouse and distribution facility. The development will allow the company to relocate from its current location within the Queens West development area in Long Island City, and modernize and expand its operations. The company agreed to retain its 322 existing jobs, and create about 100 new permanent jobs and 389 construction jobs; the company has also made a commitment to hire new employees from the community.
As part of the project, the company will invest $1 million toward community programs and projects, including the development of the South Bronx Greenway. EDC issued a Request for Proposals for the 12-acre site in September 2004. The site is bounded by Food Center Drive to the west, 400 Food Center Drive to the north, the Bronx River to the east, and 600 Food Center Drive to the south.
Construction is expected to begin Summer 2006, and will take about 18 months to complete.
The Hunts Point Peninsula has an area of roughly 690 acres, with almost half made up of the 329-acre Food Distribution Center, and is located in a Federal Empowerment Zone, New York State Empire Zone, and New York City Commercial Expansion Area, allowing businesses in the area to qualify for a variety of benefits. Much of the New York region is fed by the center, which has more than 130 wholesalers that generate revenue of more than $3 billion a year.
The City has already invested $110 million at the Hunts Point fish and produce markets. Earlier this month, the Mayor welcomed the Fulton Fish Market’s 38 wholesalers and 600 employees to their new $85 million facility at the Food Distribution Center in Hunts Point. The state-of-the-art market brings about $1 billion annually in economic activity to the Bronx.
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