By DAVID CRUZ

To build an eclectic commercial corridor involves plenty of intelligence gathering, reviewing aspects that render a series of recommendations solely for the neighborhood. It often takes the work of someone required to immerse himself in the neighborhood, and Larisa Ortiz did just that. 

For three months, Ortiz, founder of Larisa Ortiz Associates, an urban planning think tank, assessed the needs of Webster Avenue. It specifically looked at the stretch between 195th Street and Mosholu Parkway East, one portion of Webster Avenue that underwent major rezoning in 2009 as a way to entice developers to build mixed-use properties.

The results were compiled into a 29-page report entitled “Retail Market Analysis,” exploring factors that included the neighborhood’s socioeconomic demographics, shopping trends, accessibility to pedestrians and the lack of available commercial amenities. Ortiz took the audience through her findings at Community Board 7 on June 27.

The report, which serves as a kind of primer to be shared with existing and future merchants along the corridor, home to small businesses and auto repair shops, confirms the link between the 950 new residential units projected to be built under the new rezoning, and the larger revenue share merchants would receive as a result.

Report
“Retail Market Analysis” indicates that the corridor’s strong suit is “convenience shopping,” a type of shopping trend that caters to the needs of the local neighbors, the neighborhood’s “bread and butter,” over out-of-towners. “…Anyone who wants to go to a business needs to know they can get in and out really quickly and can afford to park,” said Ortiz.

Ortiz collected data from Webster Avenue merchants who own grocery stores, automotive shops, and general merchandise establishments. She concluded that merchants prefer “some lighting in the evening, things like trashcans, and improved store signage” to serve the immediate needs of its neighbors. “So even if you have lower incomes, customers are looking for basics, they’re looking for convenience, and there’re going to be businesses that are going to spring up to meet their needs,” she said.

Improvements have been under way along the corridor, including the installation of medians and plantings seen in parts of Webster Avenue.

Leakage
Among the revealing aspects of the report is the amount of revenue that merchants are losing as the result of limited businesses, and indicates that Webster Avenue is suffering from so-called leakage—money that’s being spent elsewhere.

Ortiz told stakeholders that “when there’s a gap, it means that there’s money leaking out of the community,” a reason why the report recommended existing and future merchants on Webster Avenue focus on general merchandise, affordable clothing, and food and beverage industries to attract a general audience. The sectors are what’s now in demand, based on the description of the average local customer.

For now, Marcia Cameron, doubling as deputy executive director of the Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) and the executive director of the Jerome-Gun Hill BID, said the data is available on www.mpc.org for review. The Lehman College Business Incubator will also share the report to prospective entrepreneurs. “So this is going to be a template for them to say, ‘Well, these are the needs we have seen in the community,’” said Cameron.

Private Investment
Ortiz’s conclusion—Webster Avenue is primed for major change, though much of that change will largely depend on a combination of private and public partnerships. She cited examples of Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C. and Washington Street in Boston as prime examples of change.

Ortiz foresees Webster Avenue to follow that track, given the city Economic Development Corporation’s approval to transform the neighborhood into a vibrant strip under its Vision Plan. The initiative will take further support by private and public partnerships, which MPC’s executive director, Roberto Garcia, is pursuing. “This is the beginning of a long conversation,” said Garcia.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.