Send in the big boxes. Members-only warehouse-style retailer BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. just signed on for 121,000 square feet at Muss Development’s sprawling shopping center at Sky View Parc on College Point Boulevard in Flushing, Queens. The asking rent for the 20-year ground-floor deal was not disclosed, but real estate sources say asking rents in the area are typically around $40 a square foot.
The store is expected to open by November. It will join other large retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy and Target, at the 800,000-square-foot center. Chain restaurant Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar also recently signed on to lease 6,500 square feet at the shopping center, where the eatery plans to open in the spring of next year. The center is now 70% leased.
“BJ’s is going to be a big generator of retail traffic,” said Dave Brickman, vice president of development at Muss Development. “Customers coming to shop there will overflow to our other retailers.”
More than 750,000 would-be shoppers live within three miles of the project, which will include six towers—with a total of 1,100 residential condominiums, 140 of which have already been sold—and a rooftop park.
John Hanlon of Ripco Real Estate Corp. negotiated the BJ’s and Applebee’s transactions on behalf of Muss Development. The tenants were represented by their in-house teams.
At a time when many retailers are scaling back, BJ’s is aggressively expanding in the New York area. The Natick, Mass.-based club recently signed for a site in Canarsie, Brooklyn, that was formerly leased to Home Depot and is also planning outposts in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and Pelham Manor, Westchester. In March, BJ’s posted an 8.5% jump in same-store sales of merchandise, compared with the year-earlier period, while rival Costco’s same-store sales declined 2%.
