Dermot project reshapes Jamaica Avenue

The Dermot Company could spend nearly $200 million on the redevelopment of a Jamaica Avenue courthouse that will include big, modern retail space that national retailers say is hard to find in Jamaica, Queens. Dermot expects asking rents to range from $40 to $100 per square foot on a road where rents can reach $150 per square foot. “There are national retailers here, but not enough,” said F. Carlisle Towery, president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, a local nonprofit group. “We have plenty of moms-and-pops, but we really need quality retail chains.”