Bronx News Roundup, Wednesday, June 15

Welcome to the Wednesday early afternoon edition of the roundup. I'll be your humble host and guide today as we navigate through the latest Bronx news. 

Weather: Just downright lovely out here in the Boogie Down. Should stay this way until Friday.

Story of the Day: The New Downtown Bronx?
Pop quiz: Where's downtown Bronx? Give up? OK, you guessed correctly. There is no designated, or even unofficial, downtown Bronx area.There's no one place where borough commerce can congregate and entice even more corporations and businesses to set up shop. That could change with the coming expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center near Westchester Square. Joseph Simone, president of New Rochelle-based Simone Development Companies, is building on the success of the Metro Center's first building, a renovated and updated version of a former residential treatment center. A new nine-story office building is set to open across the street from the original building this summer and is already 90 percent leased, mostly by medical groups and law firms. Construction on a twin tower is expected to begin this summer as well. When fully completed, in an estimated five years, the complex will have 2 million square feet of office space. The kicker: the final tower will supposedly include a high-end hotel and conference center.