For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Justin Henry / jhenry@rubenstein.com
NORTHWEST BRONX COMMUNITY AND CLERGY COALITION AND BRONX COMMUNITY CELEBRATE HISTORIC COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT AS PART OF THE KINGSBRIDGE ARMORY REDEVELOPMENT
NEW YORK, NY (October 29, 2025) – The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) alongside a powerful coalition of faith, labor and community organizations, today announced the successful negotiation of a community benefits agreement that advances the community’s vision for the historic Kingsbridge Armory. The agreement, negotiated with the selected developer 8th Regiment Partners, was unveiled after a landmark New York City Council vote advancing the long-stalled redevelopment of the Armory.
“After more than three decades of planning, organizing, and negotiating with the people of Kingsbridge, this community benefits agreement will finally bring our community’s vision for the Kingsbridge Armory to life,” said Sandra Lobo, Executive Director of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and co-chair of the Together for Kingsbridge visioning process. “From the start of the Together for Kingsbridge process to today’s historic Council vote, we have organized to ensure that the core values of this project reflect the needs of our Bronx community – family-sustaining jobs, community ownership, small business support, and high environmental standards. Now, thanks to this agreement, the plan for the Kingsbridge Armory is one that we can be proud of. This is what it means to fight forward. I thank Council Member Sanchez, our union partners, our generous funders, and our 4,000-member coalition for everything they’ve done to bring us to this point, and I look forward to the work we’ll continue to do together to deliver the bold, community-led vision we’ve laid out for Kingsbridge.”
Thirty-two Bronx institutions have signed on to the community benefits agreement (CBA), and will support the ongoing implementation and enforcement of its provisions. Representatives from several of the signatories shared their excitement over this precedent-setting agreement.
“For over 40 years Part of the Solution has been addressing a multitude of needs of people living in the community around the Kingsbridge Armory,” said Christina Hanson, Executive Director of Part of the Solution (POTS). “Our suite of services are geared towards helping people move from crisis to stability and, ultimately, self-sufficiency. For that reason we celebrate this historic Community Benefits Agreement, particularly the strong commitment to hiring people living in the community we serve. We look forward to seeing this agreement help our neighbors obtain work that improves their economic well-being and helps to drive overall social and economic flourishing in the Bronx.”
“As a parish that has stood beside residents in times of struggle and resilience, we celebrate an agreement that honors the dignity of our neighbors,” said Deacon Wilson Martinez of Our Lady of Angels Church. “The Armory will now serve the people who have poured their lives into this community.”
“We believe that when community leads, communities flourish,” said Fr. Nathaniel Saint-Pierre, Pastor of St. James Episopal Church. “This agreement honors the worth and wisdom of our neighbors and secures a future at the Armory rooted in justice and shared opportunity.”
“Our local merchants are the backbone of this corridor,” said Christian Ramos, Vice President of the Kingsbridge Road Merchant Association. “This agreement secures affordable space and ensures that longtime Bronx businesses will have every opportunity to grow with the Armory — not be pushed out by it.”
“Bronx families have fought too long for the right to stay and thrive in our neighborhoods,” said Wanda Salaman, Executive Director of Mothers on the Move. “This agreement ensures development protects tenants, lifts up workers, and keeps our community at the center of decision-making, including having a real ownership stake in what gets built here.”
“This agreement reinforces what we fight for every day — that Bronx immigrants and working families deserve a real stake in the future of their community,” said Eddie Cuesta, Executive Director of Dominicanos USA. “The Armory project will create meaningful opportunities for economic mobility and civic inclusion for generations to come.”
“This agreement reflects a community vision rooted in environmental justice and youth leadership,” said Dariella Rodriguez, Director of Community Development of the Point CDC. “The Armory’s future will contribute to a healthier Bronx and ensure our young people inherit opportunity, not harm.”
“When our youth thrive, our entire community thrives,” said Aleyna Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center. “This agreement ensures the Armory will create new opportunities for leadership, learning, and belonging for the young people of the Bronx.”
“For decades, we’ve worked to strengthen the Bronx,” said Dr. Shaquan Hoke, Employer Engagement Coordinator of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. “This agreement helps secure good jobs, vibrant community programming, and safe places where families can connect and grow together. I am proud to be a part of this historic movement with NWBCCC for Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, the community and our future generations.”
“When development aligns with community priorities, everyone wins,” said Salim Drammeh, Founder of Communities Come First. “This agreement ensures the Armory redevelopment invests in Bronx families first — protecting local people, local jobs, and the future of our neighborhoods.”
“Our community has long faced displacement and erasure,” said Khamarin Nhann, Campaign Director of Mekong NYC. “This agreement safeguards space for immigrant workers, small businesses, and families to remain rooted and shape the future rising around us.”
“As people of faith, we believe development must honor the dignity and future of those who call this community home,” said Reverend Emily Lukanich of Christ Episcopal Church Riverdale. “This agreement ensures the Armory will become a place of opportunity and shared abundance for Bronx families.”
The CBA is informed by the Together for Kingsbridge visioning process, a yearlong community engagement process co-led by NWBCCC Executive Director Sandra Lobo and New York City Council Member Pierina Sanchez to identify the community’s priorities for the Armory’s redevelopment. That process, which engaged more than 4,000 Bronx residents, business owners, and community leaders, resulted in the Together for Kingsbridge vision plan championed by Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and Congressman Adriano Espaillat. Later, NWBCCC entered into an unprecedented development agreement with 8th Regiment to maximize community input and ownership in the project.
The community benefits agreement lays out core principles that will guide the planning, construction, and ongoing operations of the Armory, as well as important protections to ensure the project serves the surrounding community.
Union Jobs, Local Hiring and Procurement
The CBA requires the developer to make a good-faith effort to hire 20 percent of its full-time staff from within the community in the first two years and 40 percent of its full-time staff thereafter. As part of the agreement, the developer has committed to providing jobs with opportunities for advancement, offering comprehensive job training and other critical resources for local residents. In addition, the agreement sets a goal of providing up to 50 percent of Armory contracts to local, Bronx-based businesses.
It accompanies a Project Labor Agreement requiring the development team to use union labor throughout construction, provide prevailing wages and benefits, create pre-apprenticeship opportunities, and prioritize local union minority- and women-owned businesses.
Small Business Protections
This agreement commits the developer to providing up to 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space as part of Phase 2 of the Armory housing project and prioritizing tenant opportunities for local Kingsbridge businesses with below-market rents. The developer will also preserve vending space outside of the Armory, provide rotating vendor opportunities in plaza areas and during public events, and prioritize pop-up opportunities inside the Armory as possible.
Deep Housing Affordability
The agreement ensures that any housing created onsite will remain affordable to local community members by utilizing the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s most deeply affordable programs. It sets a goal of providing 30 percent of units at the deepest affordability level (up to 30 percent of the Area Median Income) and 30 percent at the second-deepest affordability level (31-50 percent of the Area Median Income). The agreement also aims to accommodate a mix of unit sizes, with a minimum of two bedrooms in at least 50 percent of units.
High Environmental Standards
The agreement also commits the Armory project to leading environmental standards. Housing created as a result of this project will be all-electric and adhere to standard public energy metrics. The project will meet enhanced water efficiency and indoor-outdoor air quality standards, as well as a minimum LEED Gold Standard with a good-faith effort toward achieving LEED Platinum Standard.
Community Ownership, Oversight, and Transparency
The agreement creates a Community Benefits Fund to support the goals and initiatives of the community benefits agreement (such as internship and pre-apprenticeship opportunities and small business technical assistance). The developer has committed to providing an initial contribution of $250,000 and support fundraising efforts over the life of the Armory project.
In addition, the agreement establishes a Community Council to oversee the implementation of the Community Benefits Agreement. The thirteen-to-fifteen member Council will include representatives from faith and cultural organizations, local community development corporations, small businesses, labor unions, youth organizations, NYCHA developments, NWBCCC, the development team, the local community board, and the local Council Member.
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About Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
Founded in 1974, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition unites diverse peoples and institutions to fight for racial justice and economic democracy through intergenerational community organizing to transform the Bronx and beyond. Our vision prioritizes the dignity of labor and diversity of traditions to create a community in which the well-being of all its diverse members is the most important factor in decision-making. To learn more, please visit northwestbronx.org.
