This has been an ongoing hot topic in Melrose for quite some time: One of the most underestimated retail destinations is the HUB in Melrose.
The area has a long and vast history as not only one of the oldest shopping districts in the Bronx that was once filled with boutiques and department stores but movie palaces, movie studios, vaudeville theatres and an opera house!
The area is anchored by 3rd Avenue / 149th Street on the 2 and 5 express trains – the 2nd busiest subway station in the Bronx and almost a dozen bus lines intersecting the area. Not to mention that the HUB is 2 stops away from Harlem (less than 5 minutes on the 2 train) and draws folks from all of the Bronx and northern Manhattan as well.
Thousands of Bronxites get off their buses to transfer to the subway and viceversa as they make their daily commute. Let’s not also forget that the HUB is located in the fastest growing neighborhood in the Bronx according to the last census in 2010. Since then, literally thousands of apartments have been added with thousands more on the way serving middle income families as well as low income working families: all within walking distance of this vibrant shopping district.
H&M, the Gap and many other retailers are insane not to join the growing number of stores in the neighborhood as rents are still low and would give these companies an excellent profit margins. The HUB or La Tercera as the latino community calls it is a place that everyone knows how to get to since it’s been a part of our culture for over a hundred years. Such longevity is nothing to sneeze at.
Just recently, developers were asked to think BIG on several remaining parcels of land in the area which are some of the largest available lots in the Bronx.
Read more at:
http://www.wfuv.org/news/news-politics/130613/south-bronx-looks-bring-big-name-retailers