By Sarina Trangle
Starbucks may be brewing up a second serving for a shuttered Rego Park strip joint.
Chris Okada, a developer who helped broker Atlas Projects’ 100-year-lease, at 92-77 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park, said he expected Starbucks and Retro Fitness to become tenants of a roughly 20,000 square-foot commercial complex currently under construction.
Okada added that he believed the coffee chain would occupy a space with a drive-through facility.
In 2013, Okada helped Atlas Projects ink a 49-year lease with an optional extension of 49 years for $40 million, according to Okada and property records.
The company floated the idea of constructing a roughly 150-story residential tower on the 20,604-square-foot lot near the intersection of 62nd Avenue and Queens Boulevard in Rego Park this December.
The property, once home to the notorious Goldfingers strip club that neighbors railed against, is adjacent to the Rego Center Mall and near the Queens Center and Queens Place malls.
Plans filed with the city Department of Buildings show developers razed the structure and are in the process of building a two-story retail building.
Robert Heicklen, a broker with Winick Retail specialists hired to develop the site, said the incoming three-tenant strip represented an important opportunity in the heart of Rego Park’s retail district.
He could not confirm leases were in the works for Starbucks and Retro Fitness.
But he said Winick is only looking for its third tenant for the building, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015.
The vacancy encompasses about 8,095 square feet of ground floor space with a large all-glass frontage, according to Heicklen.
“There really is just a very large mix of tenants that could do it,” Heicklen said.
He said the project would include 48 parking spaces.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
