New Mall to Be Built in Flushing

[Forest Glen]

After 10 long years, the former Caldors in downtown Flushing will finally be rebuilt into a mall.

 

Harvest International is planning to convert the former Caldor Department store building near Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, N.Y., into a vertical shopping center mecca. The 240,000-sq.-ft. structure, located practically atop a subway terminal and fronting a bevy of bus lines, features four floors for retail space and a two-level underground parking facility. The project, tentatively named New World Mall, is expected to feature everything from a "hyper mega food mart" to a children's play center. "If you are a mother with a child and have only two hours to do your shopping, you can go to a vertical retailing location and within two hours, you can get things done without wasting gas," Chan explained. "You could pick up your groceries, pick up your child and get in and out."

 

http://www.contractdesign.com/contract/content_display/news/e3i13c7558c2d1a9d59e3d26fb200360448

[SoSpectacular]

Interesting find, sir. So they're going to build another mini-mall when there's Queens Crossing a block away? Oh boy these Koreans. Lol it won't have any interesting stores I bet. Better off walking to College Point Blvd to reach the Best Buy/BJ's and the upcoming Target...

[Forest Glen]

I've been to Queens Crossings...it's lame. I'm just glad that they're finally building something at Caldors. That thing has been an eyesore for so long.

[Shortline Bus]

I've been to Queens Crossings...it's lame. I'm just glad that they're finally building something at Caldors. That thing has been an eyesore for so long.

 

 

Personally if i lived in or close to Flushing I would do most of my shopping at the College Point Target/Best Buy or even go to the Bronx(Bay Plaza)or nearby Long Island.

 

The traffic around Main/Roosevelt is so bad that even most streets in Manhattan are not that bad 7 days a week.

[Infamous85]

Nice.

 

I wonder what happened to that 13-story mall that they were supposedly building in Jamaica.

[metsfan]

They should develop it into a community area, not a mall, we need communities, not dead end non living wage service industry jobs.

 

- A

[nel070]

After 10 long years, the former Caldors in downtown Flushing will finally be rebuilt into a mall.

 

Harvest International is planning to convert the former Caldor Department store building near Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, N.Y., into a vertical shopping center mecca. The 240,000-sq.-ft. structure, located practically atop a subway terminal and fronting a bevy of bus lines, features four floors for retail space and a two-level underground parking facility. The project, tentatively named New World Mall, is expected to feature everything from a "hyper mega food mart" to a children's play center. "If you are a mother with a child and have only two hours to do your shopping, you can go to a vertical retailing location and within two hours, you can get things done without wasting gas," Chan explained. "You could pick up your groceries, pick up your child and get in and out."

 

http://www.contractdesign.com/contract/content_display/news/e3i13c7558c2d1a9d59e3d26fb200360448

 

This project sounds very similar to the atlantic mall in brooklyn. this sounds like a good alternative from queens center or jamaica ave although it could congest teh area more traffic wise.

[Fresh Pond]

I've seen that place every time I go to Flushing. If you take the its the building right before it goes into the portal on the right. From the looks of it, there a BJ's there so far.

[Queens Surface]

Oh wonderful, more traffic for Flushing!

[nycbusfan]

I've seen that place every time I go to Flushing. If you take the its the building right before it goes into the portal on the right. From the looks of it, there a BJ's there so far.

That is not the mall. This one is on Main Street and Roosevelt Ave. at the Main Street Train Station.

[MTR Admiralty]

They should develop it into a community area, not a mall, we need communities, not dead end non living wage service industry jobs.

 

- A

On one hand it's a good idea to not focus on more shopping, but community. But what could you put in that thing? I'm just wondering.

[B35 via Church]

Flushing is over-developed enough as it is....

 

They're tryna turn it into another downtown brooklyn... or worse, another midtown-manhattan..

 

problem is, the ratio of subways to buses in the 2 aforementioned areas above, are just about 1:1....

 

you cannot say the same for Flushing.... I swear you're gonna need "pushers" on the come a decade from now, if this over building keeps up.....

 

Worse, the pax (passengers) per bus route aren't even evenly distributed...

when you have Q17 lines 1/2 block long, Q27 lines almost that full block long, Q66 lines a block long, wrapping around Roosevelt (I've seen this last night as a matter of fact... ridiculous).. and you got Qbx1 pax that make up like 3/4ths of the (shared) Qbx1/Q19 stop.... even worse that than, the few amt's of ppl. that you find waiting at the 12/15/26 stop (b/c on that block, the masses are over @ the N20/21 stop, or the Q20/44 stop)....

 

I mean, where the hell are you putting these people? sidewalks are only but so wide....

 

I'll just stand there & laugh if I were to see people flying around w/ jetpacks on their backs just to move around in downtown flushing....

 

like...

meet george jet-son.... jane, his wife... daugh-ter ju-dy... his-boy el-roy

[w8Hou]

I've seen that place every time I go to Flushing. If you take the its the building right before it goes into the portal on the right. From the looks of it, there a BJ's there so far.

 

That's Sky View Center on College Point Blvd and Roosevelt Avenue, not far from Main Street were the traffic is going to get f---'d up.

[w8Hou]

some real news about this project

THE SITE OF a shuttered department store in downtown Flushing is undergoing a makeover after more than 10 years of vacancy.

 

The former site of Caldor, a now-defunct chain of clothing stores, is being transformed into a three-story shopping center with a restaurant, supermarket and other shops, according to a manager for the project, which is currently under construction.

 

Developers are shooting for a September grand opening for the center at 136-20 Roosevelt Ave. - to be dubbed the New World Mall.

 

The list of retailers, located mostly on the first and second floors, has yet to be finalized, said the project manager, who asked not to be named.

 

"There are prospective franchises, but those are still in negotiations," he said, adding that the third floor will be a buffet-style restaurant with karaoke.

 

Some locals have reservations about the type of merchants that will inhabit the new mall.

 

"We don't want a flea market," said Community Board 7 Chairman Gene Kelty. "That doesn't complement the area."

 

He said Flushing residents would welcome a shopping center like Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst.

 

"If you want a mall, put a mall in there with decent stores," Kelty said. Developers do not need to present their plans to the community board because it conforms to the existing zoning.

 

Kelty said the last he heard of any development at the vacant site was about eight years ago, but plans never came to fruition.

 

Contractors filed for permits to renovate the three-story building last August with the city Department of Buildings, said an agency spokeswoman.

 

Developers, which include high-end hotel bigwig McSam Hotels LLC, did not return calls for comment.

 

The project is one of several new developments slated for the area, which locals say is already overcrowded and inundated with traffic. The area is the third-busiest pedestrian hub in the city after Manhattan's Broadway and 44th St., and Eighth Ave. between 33rd and 34th Sts., according to the city Transportation Department.

 

"My concern is how it's going to affect traffic circulation," Kelty said. "Where are people going to pick their groceries up?"

 

The new mall is already equipped with a 350-spot underground parking garage, which will offer valet parking, the project manager said.

 

 

Flushing residents have spent more than a decade getting used to saying "what used to be Caldor" with resignation. Wal-mart tried to move in. other plans to rejuvenate the site came and went, but nothing stuck.

 

The store formerly known as Caldor will end its 11-year dormancy when a new development opens in September.

 

High-end hotel magnate Sam Chang has begun work on a new use for the community eyesore, investing $15 million to create a "major super store." It will feature retail on its first floor, a supermarket on the second and a major Chinese restaurant on the third.

 

"We definitely want to do it as upscale as possible, with all the money we're spending there," Chang said.

 

The developer promised no small vendors would be on the retail floor of the building. He was quick to assert, "It's not the Flushing Mall."

 

The Long Island-based developer leased the space for 15 years from Vornado Realty Trust, with an option to renew for another 15.

 

A series of building permits have been granted since mid-December that allow renovation of the property.

 

The site, at 136-20 Roosevelt Ave., became a sore topic within the community after Caldor shuttered in 1999. Left vacant ever since, it slowly deteriorated over time.

 

Chang said he has no plans to expand or deviate from the original use of the site, which is zoned C4-3 which limits use to retail commercial development.

 

The developer also hopes to include about 350 spots-worth of valet parking at the site.

 

Community Board 7 chair Gene Kelty expressed some reservations about the project.

 

"I don't know if I'm crazy about another restaurant in there," he said, while also showing some concern about the 350 parking spots. "What you're doing is you're impacting Main Street and we're trying to lower the traffic there now."

 

Kelty had no knowledge of the project and said the board had not heard from Chang, but invited him to speak about his plans before CB7.

 

"I think if he wants to come in and talk to us, we'd like to speak with him," Kelty said.

 

Chang said the store will be a boon for Flushing residents.

 

"I think any use for this place is better than having it sit vacant," he said.

 

 

Sources:

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2010/04/29/2010-04-29_new_mall_to_replace_blight_spot.html

 

http://www.queenstribune.com/deadline/Deadline_042210_Caldor.html

[Forest Glen]

Flushing is over-developed enough as it is....

 

They're tryna turn it into another downtown brooklyn... or worse, another midtown-manhattan..

 

problem is, the ratio of subways to buses in the 2 aforementioned areas above, are just about 1:1....

 

you cannot say the same for Flushing.... I swear you're gonna need "pushers" on the come a decade from now, if this over building keeps up.....

 

Not to sound racist but Asians are used to living in congested areas. All of the major Asian cities (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing) are among the world's largest and most densely populated cities.

[B35 via Church]

Not to sound racist but Asians are used to living in congested areas. All of the major Asian cities (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing) are among the world's largest and most densely populated cities.

 

They're also the most community oriented of all the other races in the world...

The networking w/i the asian community is something serious, even moreso than that of hispanic communities.....

 

"us" on the other hand, is a whole 'nother story.... "we" are the least community oriented race of people... "we" don't even network, and that's a damn shame - worse, we're good for putting money in the pockets of all the other networks that exist, throughout the US alone....

 

case in point, who do you find running in droves to hair care stores.... the nail salons... the CHINESE FOOD STORES !!

 

speakin of which, I'm in the mood for chicken & broccoli.

[nel070]

They're also the most community oriented of all the other races in the world...

The networking w/i the asian community is something serious, even moreso than that of hispanic communities.....

 

"us" on the other hand, is a whole 'nother story.... "we" are the least community oriented race of people... "we" don't even network, and that's a damn shame - worse, we're good for putting money in the pockets of all the other networks that exist, throughout the US alone....

 

case in point, who do you find running in droves to hair care stores.... the nail salons... the CHINESE FOOD STORES !!

 

speakin of which, I'm in the mood for chicken & broccoli.

 

True the asians have set a system up specially the koreans that as soon as they get the United States they have the financial capital not by a bank but an assosociation of korean business owners to start a business. The Chinese start a restaurant stay for a year a two and then give it to the next family coming from china and go and start another restaurant they are very community oriented people who stick together socially and economically.

[MTR Admiralty]

A "QC" like mall in Flushing? That's the plan though, what's going to be the reality?

[SoSpectacular]

It's all good, at least they are smart people. They rely on their own to make it big. They know when to bite at opportunity. They're pretty much never out of work. Us? Yeah if we could learn to work together like them could we hope to dream big like the Koreans/Chinese and make it all reality.