BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
In addition to a housing
complex that will be constructed
on 2856 Webster Ave.,
the Bedford Park section of the
Bronx — an area considered a
food desert — will also keep its
local supermarket, which will
be relocated and developed
into a new 12,000-foot supermarket.
The $93.5 million construction,
overseen by developer
Douglaston Development, is
currently underway and the
two affordable housing buildings
to be built at 2856 Wesbter
Ave., and 410 Bedord Park
Blvd., are expected to be completed
by 2022.
In New York City, Harlem,
the South Bronx and Brooklyn
have been designated as food
deserts, defi ned as low-income
areas without large supermarkets
and access to many options
for healthy, affordable
food.
The supermarket, operated
by Cherry Valley Marketplace,
will abide by guidelines in the
city’s Food Retail Expansion
to Support Health (FRESH)
program, an initiative the
dedicates selling space to perishable
food establishments in
food desert communities.
Cherry Valley currently
has a Bedford Park store located
on 410 Bedford Park
Blvd., which will be relocated
to the Webster Avenue plot following
the fi rst stage of development
that will construct 448
affordable housing units. The
supermarket will be build on
the ground fl oor of the buildings,
and an affordable housing
complex will follow it.
There is no updates on
what will be built at 410 Bedford
Park Blvd., vacant land
which is owned by the The
New York Botanical Garden.
Developers received a zoning
incentives package from the
New York City Department of
City Planning with the caveat
that developers would keep the
supermarket in the Bedford
Park section.
“We know that keeping
Cherry Valley Marketplace in
the neighborhood is a top priority
Two buildings in Bedford Park will include 448 affordable housing units, and also keep the Cherry Valley Marketplace
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,2 AUG. 13-19, 2021 BTR
in a community that’s considered a food desert. Photo courtesy Douglaston Developments
for the community, and
we are delighted to be making
that happen,” said Russell
Lang, senior vice president
at Douglaston Development.
“As a result of this lease signing,
Cherry Valley will significantly
upgrade its facilities
and continue to be a staple of
the Bedford community as it
has been since its inception in
2006.“
Bedford Park to
keep supermarket