Related Companies withdrew its big-box retail proposal after Committee unanimously disapproved. On February 16, 2005, Related Retail Bruckner LLC withdrew its application for a special permit and map amendment to allow the development of a 130,000 sq.ft. BJ’s Warehouse Club, which was scheduled for a full Council vote that day. BJ’s had gained the unanimous approval of the Planning Commission, but faced likely defeat at the full Council meeting after its Land Use Committee unanimously disapproved the application on February 10, 2005. Objections pertained to potential traffic impacts, BJ’s labor history and the project’s effect on existing Bronx supermarkets.

The 430,000 sq.ft. site considered for the project is located within the Throgs Neck/Schuylerville area along Brush Road, directly north of Monsignor Scanlon High School and south of the junction between the Bruckner and Cross-Bronx Expressways and the Hutchinson River Parkway. Westchester Creek, St. Raymond’s Cemetery and the parkway and expressways separate the site from the bordering residential districts. Currently, the site contains a large, 42,000 sq.ft. warehouse building, a vacant restaurant and inn, and a parking lot used by the U.S. Postal Service. (more…)