Arker, Slate land grocery tenant at large Rockaway housing project

A massive affordable housing complex in Far Rockaway may be at least a decade away from completion, but the project’s first phrase has already landed a key tenant.

Shop Fair Supermarkets inked a 25-year lease for 27,700 square feet at Arker Companies and Slate Property Group’s Edgemere Commons at 51-23 Beach Channel Drive in the Queens neighborhood.

The grocery chain, which has 14 locations across the city, is expected to open in the spring of next year, when the development’s first phase, a 17-story building with 194 affordable units, is completed. Arker bought the 9-acre development site, formerly home to the Peninsula Hospital Center, for $19 million in 2016.

Arker and Slate broke ground on their portion of the project last year. Another 10 buildings will be developed by Tishman Speyer, which acquired part of the site in 2021 for $90 million, yielding a hefty profit for Arker before it ever put a shovel in the ground.

Upon completion, the entire project will span 2.5 million square feet, making it the city’s largest privately funded affordable housing project, according to the developers. The complex will include more than 2,000 affordable units, 72,000 square feet of retail, medical facilities and outdoor and community spaces.

Greg Parassio and Brian Doyle at Booth Street (formerly known as Booth Capital Advisors) represented both the developers and Shop Fair in the lease. Commercial Observer first reported the agreement.

Arker estimated in 2019 that the entire project would finish around 2035, although it wasn’t immediately clear if the development’s completion timeline had changed.

Neither Arker nor Slate had responded when reached for comment.

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