The first of New York City's planned city-owned grocery stores is set for Hunts Point, and the search for the company that will run it has reached its next stage. Responses to the city's request for proposals from grocers interested in operating the stores were due at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16.

The store will fill 20,000 square feet of commercial space at The Peninsula, the redevelopment of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility in Hunts Point. The city's target is to have it open by the end of 2027.

How Hunts Point got here

The city announced its N.Y.C. Groceries program in April, naming La Marqueta in East Harlem as the first site. On May 18, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City Economic Development Corporation named The Peninsula as the second. In July, the city said Hunts Point would be the first of the stores to open.

The plan calls for five stores, one in each borough, by the end of the mayor's first term, backed by $70 million in the city's capital budget. A sites portal is still looking for locations in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, with a minimum of 10,000 square feet of retail space.

What shoppers would pay

The city's July announcement set out the pricing approach. A core basket of groceries will cost 30 percent less than typical prices, and the discount applies to every shopper, with no income test. The basket covers all fresh produce, all meat and seafood, and about 20 other categories of pantry staples, dairy and refrigerated goods.

Prices on those core items are to be locked in monthly rather than changing week to week, and updated periodically to follow the market. The city projects the discount would cut an average household grocery bill by 15 percent, about $90 a month or roughly $1,000 a year.

Who will run it

The city will own the stores, and a private operator will run them day to day, handling merchandising, staffing and labor practices. The request for proposals that closed Friday asked for grocers or firms to operate one or more locations. Operators must pay family-sustaining wages and benefits and sign a labor peace agreement. The city has also sought a design firm to create the N.Y.C. Groceries brand.

The rest of The Peninsula

The grocery is one piece of a larger campus on the old Spofford site, led by NYCEDC with Gilbane Development and The Hudson Companies. The full project includes:

  • 740 units of affordable housing
  • More than 50,000 square feet of public open space
  • 30,000 square feet of light industrial space
  • More than 50,000 square feet of community space
  • Early childhood education and wellness services

What comes next

With proposals in, NYCEDC's next step is choosing an operator. The store's opening target remains the end of 2027. Updates on the program are posted on the Mayor's Office news page.

Sources