A $300 million redevelopment project aims to transform a defunct juvenile detention center into a community hotspot in Hunts Point.

Bridges Juvenile Detention Center closed in 2011 after a plague of fights and abuse.

"What we saw was a lot of community activism around closing that site and seeing this put to a better use," says Charlie Amboy, of the city Economic Development Corporation. "In fact, some of the prospective tenants were key players in seeing this facility closed." 

Now, the 5-acre space will become The Peninsula -- a complex housing 740 affordable apartments, 52,000 square feet of open recreational space, 49,000 square feet of industrial space and almost as much room for community facilities. Rounding out the project is a smaller amount of retail space for companies that already have roots in the neighborhood.

The first phase of the project will open in 2021. Before that, workers will demolish the old jail.

Work is expected to continue until 2024.