Five years in the making, the New York Botanical Garden is moving forward with a plan to redevelop a parcel of property it owns on Webster Avenue, following through on its part to revamp the still-underutilized stretch.

Come March, some potential ideas NYBG hopes to see include mixed-income residences for upwards of 300 units, 12,000-square retail space and a 125-room hotel. Or perhaps all three.

“We would prioritize proposals that come back with a mix of all three,” said Aaron Bouska, NYBG’s vice president of government and community relations.

Officials with NYBG have tapped Cushman and Wakefield to find a developer for 2868-2872 Webster Ave., a property NYBG has owned for ten years. Found at the corner of Bedford Park Boulevard and Webster Avenue, the parcel is home to the Pioneer supermarket, Laundromat and Tequila Song restaurant.

The development ends a long run from NYBG to redevelop space it’s owned for the past decade. NYBG reached agreements with two of the three commercial tenants on the property. Any selected developer would have to negotiate the remaining lease with Pioneer supermarket or wait until its lease expires to proceed. The supermarket stands as one of the few in the neighborhood, with the nearest supermarket being an extra ten minutes south of the current location.

Before, Webster Avenue was primarily a bastion for automotive companies until 2011, when the city rezoned 80 blocks of the corridor, opening opportunities for residential and commercial space. The rezoning coincided with a Vision Plan championed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which foresaw new amenities such as a hotel built along the corridor. Community Board 7, whose district overlaps with Webster Avenue, endorsed the rezoning via resolution.

NYBG has long held an interest in building a hotel at the location, seeing it as an economic driver for the neighborhood and borough. In one 2014 sustainable communities report by the New York City Department of City Planning, ideas of seeing a hotel in the area were explored for the Bedford Park/Fordham neighborhoods for quite some time. The hotel would work as an anchor that “could promote the area as a base to visit multiple attractions city-wide,” according to the report.

Bouska admits there’s no conceptual design for a hotel, but told the Norwood News it would be comparable to the Marriott Residence Inn that’s now opened at the Hutchinson Metro Center in Pelham Bay/Morris Park.

A hotel could also serve as a boon to the many out-of-towners doing business at the neighborhood’s surrounding institutions such as Montefiore Medical Center, Fordham University, The Bronx Zoo, and NYBG. Adding to Webster Avenue’s potential appeal is its proximity to subways and the Metro North, which can take commuters from Manhattan to the Bronx.

“The community desperately wants a hotel in the area,” said Jean Hill, chair of Community Board 7’s Land Use/Housing Committee, which vets upcoming development projects. “This can definitely elevate the community.”

But frequent shoppers of the 24-hour supermarket feared the store’s closure could turn the vicinity into a supermarket desert.

“You know how many people go here?” asked Pedro Vasquez, a hurried shopper worried about the store’s potential closure. “It’s the best here. How you going to close it?”

“That is the only [supermarket] that’s here,” said Jose Perez of Bedford Park, living walking distance from Pioneer. He’s aware of Fine Fare Supermarket a quarter-mile south on Webster Avenue, but doubts he’ll walk it. “Imagine how many blocks you have to walk that?” It’s four and a half blocks.

Kendrick Wiggan, who’s lived in the community for 17 years, conceded that the construction of a hotel is fine so long as the supermarket remains in tact. “It won’t bother me,’ said Wiggan.

But Jose Solano, a manager at the Pioneer, called the supermarket a major service to the community and to the Bronx as a whole, characterizing the potential closure to be a crime. “This benefits the Bronx more,” said Solano, pointing to the supermarket.

As for the type of housing, Bouska hopes to see an “ecology” of mixed-use residences tailored to affordable and market rate residents.

“It’s healthier when you don’t have all of one type of housing in the neighborhood,” said Bouska.

NYBG can re-build its property “as of right,” requiring no clearances from city agencies before construction.