NEW YORK CITY-City officials are nearing a decision to select adeveloper for a rundown swath in Willets Point,but significant changes to the redevelopment plan for theneighborhood are also afoot, according to people familiar with thematter. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that developersthe Related Cos. and SterlingEquities, a real estate firm affiliated with theNew York Mets owned by FredWilpon, are in discussions with theBloomberg administration to develop a new shopping mall andresidential space for the 62-acre site along the FlushingRiver.

But the developers, the article said, are pushing for morerevisions to the city’s ambitious $3 billion, 5,000 unit plan,requesting a reduction in the amount of apartments in favor of moreretail space for phase I of the project, which involves theredevelopment of the initial 12.7-acre parcel adjacent toCiti Field. However, a spokeswoman for Relateddeclined to comment to GlobeSt.com about the issue, and a spokesmanfor Sterling referred all inquires to the New York Mets corporatecommunications department.

If an agreement is reached, Related would need to gain approvalthrough the City Council, which would most likely occur afterBloomberg’s term is complete in 2013. At the same time, theneighborhood, knownfor its scrap yards and auto repairshops, presents land use and environmental challenges.Formerly utilized as an ash dump for passing railroad cars, WilletsPoint—which contains no underground sewer system—was rezoned by thecouncil in 2008 to allow mixed-use development.