Economic Potential Found Under Expressways

Developing a Site Design for the Soundview Marketplace in The Bronx, NY

Project Summary

Community: Bronx, New York
Technical Assistance: Site Design
Former Use: Highway Underpass
Future Use: Marketplace Hub

In New York City, and Bronx Borough especially, there is a
large amount of underutilized space underneath the
extensive highway network, such as the approximately
30,000 square feet of space located under Bruckner
Expressway. In 2014, Youth Ministries for Peace and
Justice (YMPJ), a local nonprofit, launched its innovative
Soundview Economic Hub as a response to local demand
for community economic opportunities.

In 2015, the South Bronx Overall Economic Development
Corporation (SoBro) received a U.S. EPA Brown fields
Area-Wide Planning (AWP) grant proposing a framework
for revitalization through several brown fields, including the
Bruckner Expressway Underpass. The project is an
innovative public health initiative which seeks to give New
York food growers a community-oriented space to sell
their produce, as well as to serve as a resource for other
community services, information, and educational
opportunities.

The Community's Challenge

The Soundview project aims to transform the underside of
the Bruckner Expressway into a vibrant community "hub"
while simultaneously addressing the longstanding
community need for food access, economic development,
and intergenerational programming. Before moving
forward with the project, YMPJ needed assistance to
advance this innovative concept as a key community-led
initiative identified in the AWP.

EPA's Land Revitalization Technical Assistance
In 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Land Revitalization Program provided contractor technical
assistance to develop a schematic concept plan of the
Economic Hub that allows YMPJ to significantly advance
the project. This includes defining the menu of uses,
activities, and facilities, as well as the supporting
characteristics needed to make them functional. In
addition, the effort also considered the qualitative aspects
of the place, like lighting and air circulation, to make the
facility a desirable and attractive space to inhabit. The
preferred concept consisted of small market/incubator
spaces, an enclosed community classroom, administrative
offices, a greenhouse, last mile pickup lockers, a clean soil
bank, a recreational gathering space, mixed storage
areas, restroom/toilets, and a water fountain.

Bruckner Expressway Underpass Conceptual Reuse Plan

Once rehabilitated, the space will serve as a needed hub
for healthy food production and distribution, while also
stimulating the local economy by providing job training
opportunities via incubator space for food manufacturers
as well as other vendors and service providers.

For more information, contact Schenine Mitchell, EPA
Region 2 Brownfields Program, at

Mitchell.Schenine@epa.gov.

SEPA

United States	Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization

Environmental Protection

Agency	560-F-22-026

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