Ricardo Bellido, owner of Bellido Insurance, is one of the most successful Latino insurance brokers in New York City, but he was looking for an office space that would stand out to clients and show off his company’s professionalism.
Instead of looking for space in Manhattan, Bellido found what he believes is the perfect location for him, The Offices at Market Plaza on the grounds of The Shops at Atlas Park.
“The immediate access to restaurants, retail and convenient parking were key ingredients to why I chose Atlas Park,” said Bellido, who noted that his presence there is not only already bringing him new business, but will have an important impact on his employee work-experience and retention. “Atlas Park is quite simply a beautiful place to work.”
The Offices at Market Plaza are located on the second and third floors of the original brick Atlas Terminal buildings, and have The Amish Market and Dahlia Florists as retail tenants on the ground floor. The offices, which contain a total of 40,000 square feet - about 20,000 on each floor - already are home to a wide variety of clients including Allstate, Car Italy and Tours, Contempo Realty, Primerica, The Kbuzz, The Law Office of Michael A. Mauro, The Law Offices of Henry Ramirez, Tritonic and Weight Watchers.
“The design is very well thought out and carefully oriented to meet the needs of the type of professional tenants we have,” Dante Amenta, a leasing representative for The Offices at Market Plaza.
Currently, tenants are occupying close to 15,000 of the 40,000 square feet worth of office space, and many are already giving the space rave reviews.
“[The Shops are] conveniently located, very accessible not only to people in Queens, but also Long Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan,’ said John DiGangi, owner of Car Italy and Tours.
The Shops at Atlas Park, which is located at 8000 Cooper Avenue at the intersection of 80th Street, offers an exciting mix of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, jewelry, shoes, fashion accessories, house wares, gourmet foods and a variety of charming cafes, bistros and restaurants.
In addition, it sits on a 12-acre tract of land, with The Green, which serves as its “town center” in the middle. A unified architectural statement of whitewashed buildings encircling the magnificent green space designed to create a casual, refreshing meeting place in the midst of a densely inhabited urban environment surrounds it. It also has two other outdoor public spaces and a 1,000-square-foot caf/ pavilion. Altogether, it consists of eight buildings housing retail shopping and office space.
Amenta believes that all of the retail shops, restaurants and public space provide advantages to clients who are looking to rent or lease space at The Offices at Market Plaza.
“It’s not simply an isolated office building; it is in the midst of this very fantastic lifestyle center,” Amenta said. “It creates a community within a community for the office tenants as well as the other tenants. They have the advantage in being in immediate proximity to all of the dining and shopping that is Atlas Park.”
This is not surprising to Damon Hemmerdinger, the Development Director for The Shops at Atlas Park.
“The Offices at Market Plaza are unlike anything else in Queens,” Hemmerdinger said. “It was always our goal to create a place where local entrepreneurs could thrive and flourish - and ours is an environment where this is possible.”
For example, tenants in the Market Plaza office can arrive at Atlas Park early and head to the New York Sports Club for an early morning workout. Then, grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks before heading into the office. When it’s lunch time they can treat a client or prospective new business partner to lunch at one of many fabulous restaurants and finish the day by doing some shopping at one of a variety of different retail shops.
Bellido, who used to have an office in Rego Park, said that his new office at Market Plaza is already helping him present a high-class image to his clients.
“It’s about status,” Bellido said. “I have a goal, to give a different image to my business, to show that I’m established and Atlas Park is a more sophisticated and professional place to be - I am proud to bring clients here.”
Bryan Taylor, who is an Allstate Agency owner who moved into an office at Market Plaza in December of 2006, said the potential for the site attracted him.
“I just the potential of the mall itself turning into something big and I wanted to get in at the ground level.” Taylor said. “I’m hoping it continues on that path and turns into something larger.”
Taylor, whose agency offers auto, home, commercial and personal life insurance as well as defensive driving classes and real estate services, said that a number of clients who come to the office for an appointment are impressed with what they see inside his office as well as the entire Shops.
“A lot of people who haven’t seen this, the first time they see the location they say how beautiful it is, and they are very excited about it.”
Michael Mauro, who used to run his law practice out of offices in Middle Village since 1988, said that one of the biggest advantages about moving into Market Plaza was that it offered traditional office space instead of the street-level space his previous office occupied. In addition, he said that being located within the Shops at Atlas Park; he hoped to develop relationships with other businesses and patrons - some of whom could become future clients.
“There is a great synergy from the other complexes,” Mauro said.
With approximately 25,000 square feet of office space still available, Amenta said that he continues to field calls on a regular basis from prospective tenants - from a number of different industries - about their interest in the available space.
Currently, space on the second floor generally contains pre-built suites that range from 1,000 to 2,000 square foot units, but the space can be customized for larger clients as well.
Any commercial leasing inquiries should be directed to Amenta at dante@aandco.info or 718-326-3560, Ext. 234.
