After years of debate and final approval by the City Council two weeks ago, the first tentative signs emerge of the construction of BJs Wholesale Club on the Bensonhurst waterfront.
Hazardous material signs and rat boxes were attached yesterday to the dilapidated building that will soon be demolished to make way for a 214,000-square-foot shopping center. The signs — easily recognizable by their skull and crossbones — are one of the first before a major demolition.
The possible effects of the shopping center are varied and not all are positive. There will be job creation, much-needed retail options and increased opportunities for surrounding businesses. But construction will also yield two years of noise pollution and potential traffic nightmares. Regardless of its drawbacks, the community seems pleased that BJs is on its way.
“It’s an opportunity to bring shoppers and jobs as well as parkland,” Community Board 11 District Manager Marnee Elias-Pavia said. “And it’s an investment in the community.”
After a lengthy application process, the proposal finally went to the community board in May. The shopping center, known as the Brooklyn Bay Center, was recommended to the City Council with a 26-1 vote.
The Brooklyn Bay Center on 1752 Shore Parkway will comprise BJs, three more retail stores, a nearly 700-space parking garage and approximately 2.4 acres of waterfront access.
Thor Equities Chief Executive Officer Joe Sitt purchased the land in 2005. The building was originally a bus storage facility, but has been vacant for years. According to Elias-Pavia, construction should begin at the end of the year.
When the City Planning Commission finalized its environmental impact statement in March, it identified job opportunities and other community benefits of the project.
“The proposed actions would facilitate the redevelopment of a currently underutilized parcel in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn by replacing the existing bus storage facility with an active retail use,” the report said. “The proposed project would create new employment opportunities for local residents, would create fiscal benefits to the city in the form of increased tax revenues, and would provide a new shopping opportunity for area residents.”
Stan Roher — he single dissenting vote during the community board’s approval of the proposal — said the project would negatively affect existing merchants.
Many businesses immediately neighboring the new commercial center don’t seem to agree. There is currently a small commercial plot adjacent to the abandoned storage facility composed of a New York Sports Club, the Fifth Avenue Aesthetic Medicine Associates and a Nature’s Grill Cafe.
Nature’s Grill store manager Manny Kosmas is hoping the Brooklyn Bay Center will increase his business.
“It’s gonna drive a lot of traffic,” Kosmas said. “It’s kind of a dead area, so it should be good for business. We are in walking distance so I assume it will help us out.”
New York Sports Club member Tony Giovinco also said the center would benefit surrounding organizations.
“I’m not going to go to, but I think it will help the [sports club],” he said.
The new shopping center, which is expected to be complete by 2013, should spur two types of job growth — short-term via construction ones and long-term retail and management positions.
“It should bring approximately 200 jobs,” Elias-Pavia said, referring to unionized trade and construction jobs. “Everybody needs jobs right now.”
However, not everyone is convinced that the center will be successful.
“In this economy, who knows what’s gonna happen,” said Ron Zysk, an employee of Advanced Action Pest Control who put up “keep out” signs on the dilapidated storage buildings and placed rat boxes around the property yesterday. “It might take a while [to get going].”
If the shopping center does succeed, another problem might arise — parking. The only access to the Brooklyn Bay Center’s future location is a narrow, one-way street. Traffic already becomes congested when cars pull into the small parking lot of the sports club and Nature’s Grill.
“It’s really gonna fuck things up during holidays,” Giovinco said.
For now, however, that seems to be a minor concern.
“People are excited,” Elias-Pavia said.
More Stories on The Brooklyn Ink:
A Red-Light District Fades Away
Leave a Reply