In December 2005, Baldor Specialty Foods and Anheuser-Busch of New York announced their intentions to expand their businesses on two New York City-owned sites on the Hunts Point Peninsula in the South Bronx.

These sites 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.

Baldor Specialty Foods had outgrown its current facility in Hunts Point, and its new location 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.

The New York City 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.

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.

Walgreen to Build NE Distribution Center in Connecticut

In late January, Walgreen Co., the nation’s largest drugstore chain, announced plans to construct its new northeast distribution facility in Windsor, Conn. The company will be investing over $175 million in the 700,000 square foot facility that will create up to 550 jobs. It is anticipated that 30 percent of these new hires will be workers with disabilities.

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, in coordination with Town of Windsor officials, have been working with the Walgreen Co. on the proposal for several months.

The project is being supported through an estimated $5 million in proposed incentives from the Department of Economic and Community Development: a $1.5 million loan to the company for machinery and equipment; a $2 million grant to the town of Windsor to support its business assistance program; and a $1.5 million grant to create a new customized training program. The funding requires approval from the State Bond Commission.

In addition, it is proposed that the Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) provide a sales tax exemption on materials used in the construction process. This assistance is still subject to approval by the CDA board of directors.

When it opens in 2008, the center is expected to serve about 275 stores in New England and New York. Walgreens is expected to begin site work in late spring on the 130-acre site located within the planned New England Tradeport industrial park.