The city has gobbled up another chunk of Willets Point in Queens as Mayor Bloomberg pushes his plan to transform the gritty industrial zone near Shea Stadium.
In the biggest land deal to date in the neighborhood, the city persuaded Indian food distributor House of Spices - the second-largest landowner at Willets Point - to sell its 4 acres, city officials told the Daily News.
The deal is expected to be announced Monday along with an agreement for a third of an acre owned by another company.
Combined with previously inked deals, the city now controls more than 40% of the 62-acre tangle of auto body shops and other businesses - and could soon have half the land.
City now owns over 40% of Willets Point after latest buy
18 comments:
Congratulations to GL Soni and his workers.
They can now conduct their business in a clean, safe environment and prosper.
40% of the land is great accomplishment given the boisterousness of the opposition.
The article mentions FOUR other deals as imminent and five other deals as "far along"
Wonderful work by the City to make the landowners happy with their fair and generous deals.
They should have gone after the jugular.
This would have been an excellent chance to drag the clubhouse throught the mud.
But, when we spotted Vallone Sr as their 'supporter' we knew then the jig was up. What a wasted chance.
Now they are toast.
Of course, the largest and most prosperous businesses still don't have deals. And of course, these businesses are only making deals because they are being threatened with eminent domain. They should remind the city council of that time and again.
Sometimes this city feels like Venezuela or China.
House of Spices is the SECOND LArgest land owner.
Tully is in negotiations and they are the largest.
This is a win win for the city, the business owners and the employees.
How do we know this will be a "win-win" and not a "lose-lose"? We have no money for this now, and a move could very well put House of Spices out of business.
We'll be looking at years of an empty wasteland.
Go visit Atlantic Yards and take a look at what's there. That's what will happen here.
Soni is a smart business man.
He he was able to grow his business after moving from Hunts Point TO Willets Point I would think he can be more prosperous in his new improved location.
He moved to Willets Point because it would be a better location for his business. Now he's basically being forced to move back to his less prosperous location. His employees will probably not be able to commute to the Bronx every day.
It's amazing how the EDC troll was insulting every business owner at the point who spoke out against eminent domain abuse, but after they signed deals under duress, they're "great businessmen."
Lets not rewrite history.
Soni moved to the iron triangle because the city gave him a great deal on the land and decades of tax breaks. In fact, Soni has said many times that he never even visited the location before signing. He also had no idea there were no sanitary sewers in the area.
So now he is getting another great deal on land and a great price on his current property. Sounds like capitalism at its best.
This is great news. All the narrow-minded thinkers that are against cleaning up this disgusting mess will lose out and the Queens community will be the winners if this all comes to fruition.
House of Spices is a disgusting mess? Here I thought it was a profitable business that we can't afford to lose during the recession. Sending Queens businesses to the Bronx is bad news for Queens.
Yes, this is great news - the tweeding of Queens continues.
EDC man and McShane will have this thread up to 100 before the end of the day writing the same thing over and over and over again and making it look like there are a lot of people that support this disgusting land grab.
Who is left in the WPIRA now? Seems they are all running for deals like rats leaving a sinking ship.
Sambucci, Mina, Parts Authority now Soni...
Last one out turn out the lights.
Its nice to see all you QC lemmings giving up on your hope of maintaining the iron triangle as a seeping toxic waste haven stuck in the 1950's
Queens will "win" if this development occurs? Win what? A booby prize?
Rare manufacturing space is to be put out of use, and businesses jeopardized.
A hamstrung residential community is to be constructed in an area that is ideally suited for industrial use.
As detailed in the FGEIS document but downplayed during public hearings, the proposed development will admittedly inflict unmitigatable, severe adverse traffic consequences upon residents of the existing, surrounding communities as well as commuters, and will routinely create around-the-clock traffic congestion of the type that presently only exists during rare stadium game times.
Spent jet fuel residue will rain down upon school children, as they play under the runway approach.
The list goes on and on.
You can't say you weren't warned.
The House of Spices sells food products from polluted Junk Yard. Atleast now let them do their food business from clean location. Goog for people who eat their food. Hopefully they don't mess up the new place.
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