Sunday, March 9, 2014

Strip mall crap coming soon

From the Queens Chronicle:

The owners of a vacant lot on Cross Bay Boulevard got all the permits they need and will begin construction on a strip mall soon.

Dave Koptiev of Platinum Realty said all the permits the company needed from the city have been finalized. He estimated the strip mall will be completed in eight months.

The site, located along the east side of Cross Bay between Albert Road and North Conduit Avenue, has been vacant for years and a shopping center plan has been in the works since the adjacent Magnolia Court housing development was built a decade ago.

The previous owner [Avellino] had planned on a three-story building there, including storefronts on the first floor, a medical office on the second floor and a restaurant on the third.

Koptiev did not give any specific information on the size of the plaza, including whether or not it will be the same height as Avellino’s, or any tenants, but a source said the plans are similar to strip malls Platinum has built elsewhere, including in Forest Hills and the one under construction on Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park.

The project has been delayed because of issues with obtaining the necessary permits from the city Department of Environmental Protection and concerns over the flow of traffic on Cross Bay Boulevard.

The site cannot be easily accessed from the southbound side of the boulevard, with drivers having to go into Howard Beach to make a U-turn to get to the site.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's Queens - fast food joints, dollar stores and medical buildings! Just keep eating that fast food and don't worry - another dialysis place is opening up on your corner.

We'll never get a Whole Foods or another Trader Joe's.

Sheesh - Queens is so depressing - it's just fat, sick people everywhere. We need more organic food and gyms - everyone looks terrible here. Wellness care not sickness care!

J said...


this is the new depression,not economical,but cultural depression.

apparently,this type of retail is never going to end.The streets are now owned by corporate chains.But we don't have to accept it,we can just refuse to go.we make the free market possible,just don't go there and don't look at it.

and you don't want whole foods,that chain is a fraud.they sell genetically modified fruits and vegetables too.

Anonymous said...

I agree with commentor 1....we really need more gyms in areas especially where there is a large African American and Mexican population. I've only seen one gym located on Jamaica avenue which is Lucille Roberts but there is no other gyms area that area. Most parts of Queens do not need more pharmacies, fast food places or clothing Stores. They need more gyms and quality supermarkets around.

georgetheatheist said...

I wanna see more botanicas.

Anonymous said...

The reality with a supermarket is that profit margins are very thin on a store by store basis. If you have a community where the shoplifting element is more than a certain percentage, it becomes completely unviable to build one unless it's food stamp driven, which drives up the prices more because the proprietors know that much of the community can't afford cars to go somewhere else.

Gyms with reasonable rates can only survive if they have round-the-clock hours, and not many good people want to be out on the street in certain neighborhoods that late or that early.

I think y'all need to start looking at these establishments as the result of a decent communities, not the foundations of them.

Anonymous said...

The guy is taking an eyesore and making it into something nice and something the community can use. Give the guy a break.

Joe Moretti said...

I agree with commentor 1....we really need more gyms in areas especially where there is a large African American and Mexican population. I've only seen one gym located on Jamaica avenue which is Lucille Roberts but there is no other gyms area that area.
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Jamaica has several gyms. Besides the Lucille Roberts on Jamaica Ave, Jamaica Avenue also has a Ballys near the movie theatre, a Blink Gym a few blocks east and soon there will be a Planet Fitness as well between 169th & 170th. There is also a Planet Fitness on Jamaica Avenue near the Van Wyck, plus a YMCA on Parsons Blvd. So there are plenty of gyms just in the Downtown area.

The super market underneath Moda has fresh fish and organic food, the supermarket on Sutphin Blvd near the Court House also has plenty of organic food, including organic meat. Plus there are two fresh fish places, Kings Fish & Seafood Market, one on Sutphin Blvd and one on 89th Ave on 165th Street. Granted all of this is in the downtown area for the most part, but with 3 gyms just on Jamaica Ave near each other and soon to be a fourth one, there is no reason for obese people. It is just poor eating habits and sloth behavior. One night I walk by CityRib, where you can actually get good fresh food and some healthy choices and there were too many people in there, but 2 blocks away at McDonald's and Wendy's, there were long lines.

It is just low-class ghetto mentality. Do you notice how all the fast food commercials on TV are geared to Black and Hispanic people.