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Last week, the City Council approved a sweeping plan to completely transform the historic Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a community-centered hub, to be developed in two phases.
According to project details unveiled by Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul and U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat, the first phase will focus on creating a “state-of-the-art venue space for entertainment, recreation, culture, commerce, light industrial manufacturing and more than 25,000 square feet of dedicated community space.” The second phase will add roughly 500 units of permanently affordable rental housing. The total investment? Just over $215 million in combined city, state, and federal funding.
“From training troops during the first World War to distributing food during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kingsbridge Armory has served our city for more than a century,” Mayor Adams said in an official statement. “With hundreds of affordable homes and tens of thousands of square feet of commercial, community, and manufacturing space, this ambitious proposal will give the Bronx vital space to work, live, and come together.”
Timeline-wise, according to an official press release, construction is expected to begin in 2026, with the first phase—centered around the Armory’s 180,000-square-foot, column-free Drill Hall—scheduled for completion by 2030. The second phase, which includes reimagining the adjacent National Guard site, is slated to wrap up by 2032.
Given the site’s historical significance and the many steps it took to reach this point this marks a major milestone.
The Kingsbridge Armory first opened in 1917 and served the U.S. military until 1994, before reverting to city ownership in 1996. Over the years, the space has been repurposed as an emergency supply and food distribution center, most notably after Hurricane Sandy, during the COVID-19 pandemic and following the Twin Parks fire.
In 2022, Mayor Adams’ administration launched a community-driven engagement process to determine, in collaboration with local residents, what the Armory’s next chapter should look like. Fast-forward a few years, and we now have a clearer picture through the “Together for Kingsbridge Vision Plan.” We can't wait to see the plans come to fruition in just a few more years.