Bronx realty leaves bad rep behind

By Matthew Lysiak
Special to amNewYork
The Bronx is expanding, so you don’t have to.
At least that’s the motto of New York Sports Club, who
announced last week that they will soon be moving to the Bronx. But the hip Manhattan-centric club’s expansionmay do more than signal a shrinking of waistlines
— it could also mean an acceleration of the merchantchain trend that has been sweeping through the rest of the city may finally be hitting the forgotten borough.
The new athletic club,which is located at 1601 Bronxdale Ave., will open Nov. 1, complete with swimming pool, babysitting, a sauna and a juice bar. But the club is only the most recent example of how commercial real estate developers are beginning to see the borough in a whole new light.
“It may have taken a little longer than the other boroughs,but now big businesses are beginning to see value in the Bronx,” said broker Mark Lilmars, who
deals in commercial rental property near Morris Park. “The borough is in transition
and while it is difficult to generalize such a diverse area, it appears that the
trend is likely to continue.”
That is also good news for coffee lovers. That’s because next month, Starbucks, the unofficial barometer of gentrification, is also taking the Bronx plunge, having recently announced that it will soon open a shop at 235th Street and Johnson Avenue in Riverdale.
Times sure have changed since President Jimmy Carter first visited 30 years
ago this month.
In the 1970s, the Bronx was a buzzword for violence, decay and blight. In casual French “c’est le Bronx” still stands for “what a mess.” A wave of arson
in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s coupled with soaring crime rates kept merchants at arm’s length.
But in the past few years, many chain stores have ignored lingering stereotypes
and have set up shop in the much maligned borough. In the past decade, Home Depots opened in Baychester and Castle Hill, and in 2004, a Target came to Riverdale. Now the community that some outsiders associate with the arson and crime waves of decades past will be serving $5 lattes to go with Pilates and yoga.
While residents view the corporate logos as an uplifting sign that past stigmas
have finally been discarded, they also stoke familiar fears.
“People should know that the Bronx hasn’t been burning for a long time,” said Jonathan Izra, who is a partner at Alliance Car Company and has lived in Morris Park for 19 years. “Big businesses know it’s safe to bring their money to town, just so long as my rent doesn’t go up anymore.”