A rendering of “The Shoppes at 36th” projected for a summer 2018 opening/CBRE
Aug. 11, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez
The owners of the building that formerly housed Club Purlieu, the nightclub plagued with a violent history of shootings, robberies, and stabbings, are in the process of leasing out the space for multiple retail shops.
The 6,800 square-foot, one-story locale at 36-04 34th Street is turning into a retail space called “The Shoppes at 36th” that will hold five window-front shops, according to Jeremy Scholder and Dean Rosenzweig, brokers at CBRE who are managing the leasing.
Ideas for the former site of Club Purlieu included a single supermarket or variety store, or turning the property into a large community facility, Scholder said. Eventually, multiple shops were decided on.
“We wanted to bring something that the community will benefit from,” Rosenzweig said. “We wanted to provide the types of services that aren’t there today.”
Although the spaces have not been taken up by leasers yet, the brokers are in talks with interested parties who may bring coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and possibly a boutique fitness concept.
Rosenzweig and Scholder say the leasers will likely be small independent store owners, but large, national chains could be considered if it fits with the neighborhood’s needs.
“The ownership group are a couple of guys who understand what makes a community tick,” Scholder said. “They recognize that what was there before doesn’t resonate with the community.”
Based on the interest that the location is receiving, Scholder and Rosenzweig project that the five store fronts, averaging between 1,200 square-feet to 1,400 square-feet each, will be all leased out and ready to open in the summer of 2018.
According to building documents from February, BizDesigns is the Brooklyn-based architecture firm behind the design of the locale.
Club Purlieu closed down in 2016 after receiving hefty fines from the State Liquor Authority for multiple violations, along with backlash from the community after a long string of violent incidents, including the shooting of Robert Castillo, a cab driver, in the head after dropping passengers off at the club that year, and after three men were stabbed in the club in 2015.
