Kingsbridge residents and local merchants reacted with mixed feelings last week about the influx of shoppers and activities that the renovated Kingsbridge Armory will bring.

Plans for the new armory, according to the developer, The Related Companies, will include retail shops, an anchor department store, restaurants, a movie theatre, community space and indoor parking.

Some see the development as a potential boon for local businesses.

“We welcome the idea,” said Doyle Whitman, 36, manager of the C&S Value Store on East Kingsbridge Road. “The more people in the area, the more shoppers we’re going to get.”

Others are still undecided about how it will play out.

“We are not really sure how it is going to affect us yet. Probably will cause more traffic to the area, and more congestion,” said John Kim, 35, manager of Amiga Fashion, a woman’s clothing store.

Rowena West, 59, sells handbags and sunglasses on the corner of Kingsbridge and Jerome Avenue for. She hopes to move her business indoors when the renovations are complete.

“I have no idea how it will affect me,” West said. “I’m going to ask if I can rent something in there.”

 Given that much of what the armory will contain is still up in the air, local residents offered up suggestions.

Cecil Brathwait, 45, wants to see a  building full of local vendors where residents could bargain shop, similar to Canal Street.

Some want more specialty shops. “I go to New Jersey because I can’t get what I want here,” said Patricia Silverio, 27.  

Still other residents welcome the opportunity to shop at larger department and chain stores, naming JC Penney, Lane Bryant and Ashley Stewart as a few they would like to see in the area.

“A fitness center of some sort would be nice,” said Ron Ford, 50, a 20-year Kingsbridge resident.

The renovation project also brings a sense of hope for the revitalization of the community.

Margarita Morales, 37, is a waitress at La Cocina Restaurant near the armory, and a mother. She thinks renovating the armory will not only be good for the surrounding businesses but also for her daughters.

“I have two daughters, 19 and 16 years old. I’m crazy for them to work and not hang out on the street after school,” said Morales. “There are lots of fights after school in this neighborhood.”

“This neighborhood has the potential to be a nice neighborhood because of the park, college and schools,” said Maria Guerra, 31, a Harlem resident who has worked at Jewish Home Lifecare’s Bronx Division, near the armory, on West Kingsbridge Road, for the past two years. “I’d go shopping there.”