Negotiations are under way to add two additional retailers at the site, which had been abandoned for over a decade. But the property’s exclusive leasing agent, Manhattan based Robert K. Futterman & Associates, has not divulged which stores it is considering.
Residents hailed the planned shops as a positive step for the neighborhood, especially with new competition from specialty retailers at nearby The Shops at Atlas Park, which opened in Glendale last April.
Barbara Stuchinski, president of the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association, said the upcoming stores reflect a rising demand for upscale shopping options in the area. “This is exactly what we need,” she said. “There is money to be spent here, so it’s good to finally see a big retailer tapping into the growing income base.”
But recent construction at the site, known locally as the Heidelberg building, has also renewed longtime concerns about potential health hazards. Trader Joe’s will move into the building formerly occupied by a printing press manufacturer, whose owners were repeatedly fined for dumping before they closed in the mid 1990s. A recent study by the state Department of Environmental Conservation found high levels of the toxic chemical tetrachloreothylene (PCE) in the ground surrounding the building.
The state agency has since forced nearby businesses to comply with strict water mitigation rules. Sports Authority was required to pour a layer of concrete into the ground below the parking lot to create a barrier against contaminated groundwater, Stuchinski said. Home Depot went so far as to excavate all of the soil below the store and install a water barging system that diverts the flow of contaminants.
Trader Joe’s will be subject to even stricter regulations because of concerns about chemicals coming into contact with a food supply, she said. Before opening any new stores, developers at 90 30 Metropolitan Ave. must pour chlorine into the soil, install an underground barging system and build a “vapor extraction” mechanism to remove toxins from the soil and air, said state agency spokesman Thomas Panzone. State inspectors will monitor the toxicity levels at the site as construction progresses.
Another concern for residents is traffic congestion, said Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6. With several large businesses already set up in the adjoining lot and a new public school planned several blocks away, traffic at the busy corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard “is going to be even more of a nightmare,” he said.
Stuchinski agrees: “We’re already in a quagmire with that logjam you see every day outside the Wendy’s on Metropolitan (Avenue),” she said. “That’s all going to keep spilling over into our residential streets and in front of our homes.
“These stores better be worth it,” she added with a laugh.
Trader Joe’s has 10 locations in New York, including one in Manhattan, four in Westchester and five on Long Island.
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