Douglaston and Little Neck residents have been in the dark about the development of the Lowe’s Home Improvement at the Douglaston Plaza shopping center ever since Community Board 11 approved it in February 2018.
But Department of Buildings (DOB) records from March indicate that work continues at the shopping center at 262-02 61st Ave.
According to the DOB website, the city approved applications for alterations, HVAC and plumbing work at Douglaston Plaza for the first time since August 2018. Construction workers were present at the site when QNS visited on April 30.
Perry M. Petrillo Architects and Herrick-Saylor Engineers, who are both working on the project, have had prior experience building Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores across the country.
But a Lowe’s spokesperson said that “we don’t have any announcements to share” when asked about the status of the store’s arrival. Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. (AAC), which owns Douglaston Plaza, failed to respond to multiple phone calls and emails for comment.
While the status of the Lowe’s and other storefronts remains unknown, QNS discovered that AAC hired Ripco Real Estate to lease 110,000 square feet of the property. When asked how the leasing would affect Lowe’s, Ripco leasing agent Doug Weinstein said he was “not at liberty to say” whether or not Lowe’s was still coming to the shopping center.
“The community will have an idea of what’s going to happen in the near future,” Weinstein told QNS. He added that businesses have shown “lots of interest” in leasing at the plaza.
Fairway Market, T-Mobile and Burger King are the current tenants at the shopping center.
In March, The Real Deal reported that a neighboring property owned by Cushman and Wakefield was selling for $45 million. Cushman and Wakefield owns the nearly three-acre development site known as the Douglaston Acres. According to the report, the site can either be turned into a 110,000-square-foot residential development or a 250,000-square-foot community facility.
