By Phil Corso
No appointments were necessary.
With help from the Bayside Village Business Improvement District, Bell Boulevard was on full display Monday as the group hosted its first Roll Up the Gates event to showcase vacancies in the area.
With hopes of attracting business owners, BID Executive Director Lyle Sclair invited architects, brokers, and any other interested parties to tour the openings along Bell Boulevard before considering joining more than 225 businesses in a potential move to Bayside.
“The opportunity is there to get the information out in a way we have never done,” Sclair said. “The point is to show off all of our resources in the area.”
With a starting point inside the Bayside Business Association headquarters, at 41-16 Bell Blvd., Sclair was equipped with detailed statistics on business in Bayside and how it stacks up against its competition.
According to Sclair, one of the area’s greatest attractions include the BID’s proximity to the Long Island Rail Road, which serves as one of the Top 10 LIRR stations in attracting daily foot traffic. And the numbers have worked in the BID’s favor as the executive director pointed to several new businesses already setting up shop on Bell Boulevard in recent months, including Subway, Bare Burger and D’Alessandro’s Corner Grill.
“The market is definitely turning,” Sclair said. “Now the challenge is to fill those second-floor spaces.”
With only less than a half-dozen openings, the BID director said he was hoping to attract a diverse group of business opportunities to the area, including medical practices and other office occupations.
The Bayside BID includes an eight-block strip of retail space between Northern Boulevard and 35th Avenue along Bell Boulevard, including one block east and west along 41st Avenue.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, potential tenants called up to ask about how their business might benefit along Bell. But the first Roll Up the Gates event, sponsored by the Briarwood Organization, Vision Enterprises and Merrill Lynch of Bayside, was only the beginning of a bigger picture, according to BID Chairman Dominick Bruccoleri.
“It doesn’t end here. The conversation continues,” said Bruccoleri, owner of Papazzio Restaurant, which participated in the event with second-floor space on display. “We will continue showcasing our openings on our website in its own real estate area.”
Sclair said he was also glad to be engaging his current membership by including them in the showcasing process. Albert Murad, financial adviser at Merrill Lynch, helped sponsor the event and said he was happy to give back to the group.
“We love Bayside Village,” Murad said. “We have been seeing a lot of new faces and always love to get our name out there.”
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
