Last July, there was word that the Gulf gas station at Metropolitan Ave and Woodhaven Blvd was for sale. There was a permit issued to remove the underground tanks. So far, that's all the work that has been done on the property. The construction fence looked like this on Saturday night. One can only imagine what's been going on inside...
According to ACRIS, the lot has not yet been sold. But here are the
plans:
90-04 Metropolitan Avenue Queens Exclusive Flyer Web 0
35 comments:
Starbucks or DD? What else could you squeeze in there?
Good idea for a DD or Starbucks. Thousands of shoppers descend on that block every day. No place to pick up a quick coffee, except at Panera which is a little out of the way. Whatever opens there would be a gold mine just like all the stores there. I heard that the Trader Joes there always ranks in the top five performing stores in the Northeast.
I hate it when construction is ALLOWED to just sit there and rot. It makes it even worst in the winter when someone owns it and the entire sidewalk is not shoveled and no one gets a ticket for it.
More quality of life issues in the "greatest city in the world". Can we now no longer ever use that phrase unless the quality of life improves a few notches above a third world shit hole country.
I think we need a CVS or a TD Bank there...
I don't know about you guys, but Im praying for more faceless corporate Retail!
I went past Eliot Ave. and Fresh Pond Rd. yesterday and noticed that the gas station on the southwest corner is closed.
Hmmm.....could there be another ugly development in the future. Hopefully it'll be better than the next door strip mall that replaced Myrtle Motors.
Seems like that area is hot for re-development. The boarded up house on 60th off of Eliot and now the gas station.
How soon before the mobbed up and vacant Casablanca restaurant is transformed into something?
Don't worry, Crappy. I'm sure something nice will be built there!
More crap stores we don't need that attracts a swarming amount of people from all over because of the FREE parking!
Thanks for mentioning that gas station at Eliot and Fresh Pond. I had noticed it myself this weekend. It was so popular, it was a shock to see it closed.
Another nail in the coffin for Hemmerdinger's "Proposed" strip mall at Atlas...
Let me get this right. We don't want a dormant construction site and we don't want over developement either.
That about sums it up. We don't want OVERdevelopment.
I live nearby. I would be curious to hear what folks think would be good or bad development.
I'm for a green space with trees and benches for people to rest. Besides the park that was created when the Elmhurst Gas Tanks were done away with, when was the last time anyone saw development involving a park?
I agree, "green space" would look great.
Only problem is that "green space" doesn't generate tax revenue.
This location is too valuable.
'That about sums it up. We don't want OVERdevelopment.'
I'm not sure I've ever seen you support a development project. What level of development do you want?
Central Park is built on valuable real estate as well. And if this site was so valuable, why hasn't it been snapped up yet? And, the plans don't show anything larger than what's already there, so I'm not sure what you're getting at.
Who are you expecting to pay to turn it into a park?
Developers barely squeezed in a PetCo across the street at that extremely dangerous intersection. Now Mrs. Smith can't grow her tomatoes anymore because that monstrosity of a building blocks the sunlight from her backyard, not to mention from her windows too. Where's the community input !
"Who are you expecting to pay to turn it into a park?"
Taxpayers.
Some of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world live next to the Central Park. Local residents living on 5th ave or Central Park West would never let anything happen to "their" park. The park's very existence keeps local property taxes sky high.(income for the city) Not to mention it attracts tourist from all over the world who in turn spend their money in NYC.(more income for the city)
Yes, and the presence of a park anywhere increases the property values of the surrounding area, generating more revenue for the city. Having adequate parkland throughout the city is also a matter of social justice.
Speaking of it being a dangerous intersection, yesterday I witnessed a woman pushing a baby in a stroller in the narrow street along the curb on the side of Trader Joes across from the car wash. I yelled at her "what are you doing in the street, get on the sidewalk!" Then she did. What is wrong with people? I see people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, economic status, all over the city in any type of weather walking in the street when there are pefrectly good sidewalks. And nowadays even the broken sidewalks are in better conditions then the pot hole riddled streets.
I'm all in favor of more parkspace and open land, and I'm all for paying taxes to get it done.
But this is a poor site for a park, and given the commercial potential of the site would cost a lot of tax money. It's been vacant because the owners are trying to get a lot of rent.
Also, it's a little disingenuous to say the only reasonable development is a park. The American regime of property rights doesn't really support such an radical position.
No one said the only reasonable development is a park. You asked what people would like to see there. They told you.
No, I asked for examples of good and bad development. I'm actually curious about what people would consider appropriate and what would be overdevelopment.
As someone with a kid who lives very close, it's hard to imagine it being a nice spot for recreation given the proximity to Woodhaven and Metropolitan.
I'm not suggesting we blindly embrace any proposal, I'm trying to get a sense for what would be problematic, and conversely what would be desirable, within reason.
So anything but a park is overdevelopment? Or are there other appropriate uses?
'pefrectly good sidewalks. '
The sidewalk by the car wash is usually blocked with cars, the employees there don't pay attention when they bring the cars to the street, and it is covered with runoff from the car wash.
I'm not saying that woman had any business pushing a stroller in the street. But that car wash makes it hard to walk to trader joes, it's run by assholes.
You want taxpayers across the city to pay for more parkland in one small spot?
More a local BID, or put in a local property tax surcharge, or just raise donations if you want to buy a lot. Why should residents in park deserts elsewhere in the city pay for a park on this corner?
Or work with the owner, let them build taller or give them a property tax break in exchange for including open space in the design.
There's a park at Woodhaven and Myrtle, also very busy streets. Why is that location good, but this one bad for a park?
I think something along the lines of what was there before would be a smart use of the property. It looks like they are taking the gas station store building and repurposing it for other retail and I'm fine with that. I think we can all agree that with Trader Joe's, home Depot and all the rest of what's been developed out of old factory buildings, that intersection doesn't need another huge retailer moving in.
When the city buys land, it pays fair market value, not whatever the owner asks for. So I'm not sure why cost of acquisition is that much of a concern.
"You want taxpayers across the city to pay for more parkland in one small spot?"
Uh yeah. Money for parks comes from the City's general fund, which all taxpayers pay into. So we paid for the High Line and Manhattanites can pay for our new park.
With all the development the Remsen's are turning over in their nearby graves.
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