Off the table Deal keeps Hunts Point in New York for now

Joshua Burd//January 6, 2014

The deal keeps the 105-acre market at its current home until June 2021 and allows the city to retain some 3,000 jobs, according to the city’s economic development agency. It also gives the city more time to work out a long-term solution for the 47-year-old market, which has been coveted by Garden State officials while floating the idea of leaving its aging complex.
The lease renewal was first reported last week by the New York Times.
The deal comes as business and political leaders in New Jersey hope to capitalize on Michael Bloomberg’s departure from New York City Hall. The business-friendly mayor was succeeded on Jan. 1 by Bill de Blasio, who has stoked fears that he’d be far less aggressive about keeping companies from leaving the five boroughs.
The Hunts Point deal was announced on the final day of the Bloomberg administration, the latest in on-again, off-again negotiations and short-term agreements during his 12 years in office. With a lease that ended in 2011, the 47-member co-op has been clashing with city officials over sharing the costs of modernizing its complex.
The latest deal gives the co-op a 10-year renewal option in 2021, the city said in a news release. City officials and the market also will partner on short-term improvements.
For New Jersey, the market was often viewed as a big fish in the cross-Hudson battle for economic development. As its lease was ending in 2011, a co-op board member told NJBIZ that it was considering four different sites in the Garden State.
The recent overhaul of the state’s business incentives was also seen as raising the stakes for the market. An attorney for the market told the New York Times last week that it hasn’t ruled out listening to offers from New Jersey or other states.