Norwood News

Members of Community Board 7 will be the first to officially weigh in on The Related Companies’ “Shops at the Armory” redevelopment proposal on July 14.

Board chair Greg Faulkner told the Norwood News on the eve of a June 24 public hearing that he expects the board to vote “yes” on the proposal, despite the fact that a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) may not be in place before the vote.

Faulkner said the Board would essentially say with its vote: “This approval is conditioned on there being a Community Benefits Agreement which will include the following items …”

Faulkner said the city blindsided the Board with such an early start to the land use review process, which follows a strict six-month clock, leaving them little time to craft a CBA before the vote.  Voting “no” on the project would give the Board less leverage in the final benefits agreement, Faulkner said.

Meanwhile, in an opinion article on p. 7 of this issue, members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance, who insist that living wage jobs be required for retailers at the Armory, call on Board 7 to vote no on the proposal.

For regular updates on the project, go to the Bronx News Network blog.