Council approves mall expansion

The City Council approved developers’ plans to rezone River Plaza to provide retailers along the West 225th Street shopping strip with  more storage space.

With Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez’s backing, the Council voted on Sept. 12 to shift the zoning from M1-1 and R6/C1-3 – typically used for auto storage, high-rise residential buildings and commercial areas – to C8-3, which allows for larger commercial zones.

The new zoning permits Kingsbridge Associates, LLC to construct an additional 25,000 square-feet of retail space above Target as well as nearly 11,000 square-feet of storage for the Marble Hill development.

The company previously indicated it had no immediate plans to build more retail space, but that Target needed more space to store merchandise to meet demands.

Kingsbridge Associates had not filed applications seeking new construction permits with the Department of Building’s as of press time.