SoHo Gets Closer To Reining In Big Box Retail

SOHO, NY — SoHo is one step closer to approving an agreement that would prevent another big-box retailer from opening a massive new store in a SoHo building.

Politicians and local community members have long complained of overcrowding in the SoHo neighborhood, which has transformed in recent decades from a warehouse district favored by up-and-coming artists for spacious studios and cheap rent to a cramped retail district crowded with high-end stores and massive retailers.

On Monday, the City Council's zoning subcommittee approved an an agreement between local community members and the owner of SoHo building. The property owners of the six-story structure at 462 Broadway had previously asked to create a massive retail space on the bottom floors of his building, that would be at least 45,000 square feet in size. Local restrictions limit new stores to being 10,000 feet or less.

After community members rejected the original plan, a new application that the City Council's committee on zoning approved today allows for a much smaller retail space to open there.

Council Member Margaret Chin, who represents SoHo in the City Council, and local community board chair Terri Cude applauded the decision.

"The SoHo community is under daily siege by illegal large-scale retail," the two said in a statement. "By reaching this agreement, we have won acknowledgement that oversized retail has no place in SoHo, or in any other densely populated and historic district."

The proposal must still be approved by the City Council's land use committee and the full Council before being implemented.

Lead image via Patch