Downtown Jamaica in Queens is not a shopping strip where bargain hunters and window shoppers linger into the evening. The bustling retail hub in southeastern Queens, once a struggling area whose fortunes have improved dramatically in the past several years, still generally clears out right after work.
Many of the people passing through the Long Island Rail Road and AirTrain stations at Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue, two blocks south of Jamaica’s main drag, Jamaica Avenue, are content to simply gaze out the window and ignore the retail area. But that could change as national chains — Home Depot is the newest big player on the way — continue to replace downmarket discounters, and as Jamaica benefits from a rezoning effort and $55 million redevelopment initiative.
While planners envision Jamaica as a thriving airport village some day, thanks to its daytime bustle, the downtown commercial district along Jamaica Avenue roughly from Sutphin Boulevard to 170th Street has almost no retail vacancies after several strong years.
Rents for prime ground-floor space are topping out at about $110 per square foot, from about $90 per square foot five years ago, notes Frank Zuckerbrot, president of Long Island City-based Sholom & Zuckerbrot Realty.
The 2002 opening of Jamaica Center, on Jamaica Avenue at the corner of Parsons Boulevard, brought a movie theatre and big-name stores such as Gap and Old Navy. By January of 2003, the Center had 100 percent occupancy, says Michael Mattone, chief financial officer at Mattone Group, which owns and operates the center. Mattone says rents on all floors of the three-story complex have risen from an average $30 per square foot to more than $40 per square foot.
An ongoing redevelopment effort is expected to kick up Jamaica’s retail to a whole new level. F. Carlisle Towery, president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, says Jamaica lost retail in the 1970s and early ’80s, but now he is talking with three different developers about projects related to the AirTrain, which started service at the end of 2003 between Jamaica Station and Kennedy International Airport
Towery envisions Jamaica as a thriving airport village, with a healthy mix of homegrown and national stores to entice visitors.
“Jamaica is going to become more closely identified with Kennedy Airport and international travel,” Towery says, noting that Holland’s Schiphol airport provides a model of a world-class travel hub with successful commercial appendages. From Long Island, Towery says, “you have to come through Jamaica going to Manhattan.”
Plans call for extending the retail district beyond Jamaica Avenue to link it more directly with the AirTrain transit hub two blocks to the south. Towery says so far about $23 million has been raised for infrastructure improvements, thanks to the backing of U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and the Port Authority.
Better lighting and streetscape improvements are a critical piece of the package, because they will help make the streets more user-friendly in the evening. Towery says an $8 million upgrade of Sutphin Avenue at 160th Street will be completed next month. Next up is converting the LIRR’s trash dump south of Archer Avenue under Sutphin Boulevard to retail or some other people-friendly use.
“That’s a critical knuckle between north and south,” Towery says.
Towery’s group also plans two 500-space parking lots to help alleviate the chronic parking shortage that is widely blamed for deterring some car-dependent shoppers. These will follow up on the five garages with 2,000 spaces each that the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation now runs.
The wave of big-name stores that began at Jamaica Center is only expected to accelerate, especially now that Home Depot is building between Jamaica Avenue and Merrick Boulevard.
The $75 million deal for a 105,000-square-foot Home Depot encompassed five different owners and nine tax lots, says Brian Sarath, managing director at Massey Knakal, who represented all five landlords. The transaction took about three years.
More big-box stores appear on the way. The world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has Jamaica in its sights, according to a source, though a Wal-Mart spokesman would only say that the company has no announced projects in the area.
A retail expert who helps Target with real estate site selection also admits to an interest in the area. “We have looked around Jamaica, but the right opportunity really hasn’t availed itself,” says Peter Ripka, a partner in Ripco Real Estate Corp. Asked if Target is still interested in Jamaica, he replies: “If all the stars are aligned, Target is interested in expanding in New York City.”
Any big-name chains that arrive in Jamaica will have plenty of company. Recent arrivals include Radio Shack, jewelry store Zales, and Washington Mutual Bank.
Meanwhile, local stores that attract busloads of shoppers each weekend from as far away as Michigan are recommitting to the area. Fashion retailer Danice Stores, a 20-year veteran of Jamaica Avenue, just renewed its lease. Zuckerbrot & Sholom represented both the landlord and the tenant in the deal for the 5,000-square-foot space.
And the city may make more space available for retail. While a comprehensive rezoning by the city could allow for more conversion of office buildings to retail and other uses, the review process is still under way and changes may not be official until early next year.
“The heart of downtown Jamaica Center is trying to extend and grow,” says John Young, director of the Queens office of the Department of City Planning.