How the Amazon deal would have benefi ted the Bronx
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR ARCH 8-14, 2019 5
BY ALEX MITCHELL
When Amazon backed
away from building a sequel
headquarters in Long Island
City on a heartbreaking Valentine’s
Day, it spelled out not
only bad news for Queens, but
likely the Bronx as well.
Given the rapid, vibrant
transformation that the south
Bronx has undergone in recent
years, specifi cally Port
Morris and Mott Haven, some
Bronx real estate investors
and experts believe the deal
would have benefi tted the new
and ever improving borough.
“Amazon opening a second
headquarters in Long Island
City would have essentially
guaranteed a spillover effect
to the south Bronx,” said
Jonathan Yunason, president
of 925 Capital, a Manhattanbased
development fi rm that
specially develops commercial
properties in the south Bronx.
Since December, he’s invested
in two additional south
Bronx properties, one at 101
Bruckner Boulevard adjacent
to the Willis Avenue Bridge
and another at 259 E. 134th
Street, just across from the
Third Avenue Bridge.
“Amazon most likely would
have opened the door to allow
smaller companies to take offi
ce space in its surrounding
areas,” he continued. Even
though Queens can feel like a
foreign land from the Bronx,
Long Island City is only a
mere fi ve miles away from Yunason’s
Mott Haven properties
and is easily considered to
be the surrounding area.
He continued on, citing
that the large scale Brookfi eld
project slated for a lot that’s
also adjacent to the Third Avenue
Bridge has an estimated
completion that essentially coincided
with Amazon’s HQ2.
Yunason also noted that
the Union Crossing building of
825 E. 141st Street in Port Morris
would have also likely benefi
tted from Amazon’s potential
Bronx spillover effects.
“There is no doubt that the
Bronx could provide such a
move with much needed support
in terms of affordable
workforce housing, offi ce
space for companies operating
in the Amazon eco-system,
and a major upgrade in logistics
properties for e-commerce,”
the developer added.
As far as affordable workforce
housing goes for Amazon,
one luxury apartment
complex in the south Bronx
has already seen people jumping
across the east river from
Long Island City before any
news of a possible HQ2.
Newly opened Bridgeline
of 329 E. 132nd Street, which
overlooks the Bronx waterfront
also would have likely
continued to benefi t from Amazon’s
move, says Jillian S.
Faulls of Brigdline’s leasing
team.
“Amazon defi nitely would
have brought an infl ux to the
south Bronx,” the 15-year real
estate afi cionado said, adding
that more people would have
simply been introduced to the
area, even if they don’t commit
to a luxury apartment.
“That would have also
boosted local and small businesses
down here and introduced
a lot of people to an area
they may have not been all
that familiar with,” she said,
calling that parcel off Bruckner
Boulevard an area that’s
“budding in its own unique
way.”
Faulls also noted that the
commute from the #6 IRT stop
at 3rd Avenue-138th Street station
to Long Island City’s Vernon
Boulevard station via #7
IRT transfer at Grand Central
Station is only about a 30-minute
trip.
“That would have been a
major selling point, besides
our in-unit washers and dryers,”
she joked.
Something that Yunason
and Faulls both agree on is
that the Amazon’s backing out
of an NYC headquarters was
disappointing to say the least.
An iconic Tats Cru mural beneath the Third Avenue Bridge. Schneps Media/ Alex Mitchell