Lidl adds two Queens leases to NYC spread

Grocer takes nearly 70K sf across Glen Oaks, Fresh Meadows shopping centers

Lidl US CEO Michal Lagunionek

Lidl US CEO Michal Lagunionek, 255-01 Union Turnpike in Queens (left), and 187-04 Horace Harding Expressway in Queens (right) (Getty, LinkedIn/Michal Lagunionek, Google Maps)

Lidl’s love for New York City keeps gaining ground with two leases in Queens.

The Germany grocery chain inked a long-term deal for 28,000 square feet at Fresh Meadows Place in the Queens neighborhood, The Real Deal has learned. It will join a tenant roster at the Federal Realty Investment Trust complex that includes CVS, Starbucks and Kohl’s.

The grocery store is replacing the Michaels crafts chain, which closed its doors at 187-04 Horace Harding Expressway in February, according to QNS. Lidl could open there in the first quarter of next year.

Schuckman Realty’s Kenneth Schuckman represented both sides of the transaction, while Lance Billingsley represented the landlord in-house.

Lidl is also on board at the Feil Organization’s Glen Oaks Shopping Center at 255-01 Union Turnpike, the Commercial Observer reported. The supermarket signed a 15-year deal for 41,000 square feet, including 34,000 square feet on the ground floor.

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The asking rent for that lease was between $30 and $40 per square foot. Lidl is replacing another supermarket, Key Food, which closed more than a year ago.

Schuckman and colleague Jessica Vilmenay represented Lidl in the Glen Oaks deal, while Randall Briskin represented the landlord in-house.

Lidl’s expansion across the Big Apple seems inevitable. The discount grocer earlier this month signed a 23,000-square-foot lease at MAG Partners’ 335 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea. The anchor of a 188-unit rental project, the Chelsea Lidl will be the company’s second in Manhattan.

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The 15-year lease in Chelsea follows two mega deals in Brooklyn, the borough’s two largest retail leases of the previous year. Lidl signed a lease for 33,000 square feet in Crown Heights and 25,000 square feet in Park Slope.

Lidl also has locations in Astoria and Staten Island, not to mention a major push on Long Island. In 2018, it acquired 27 stores from Bethpage-based Best Markets, sticking to its typical process in the region of taking over existing properties.