I just can't help thinking how out of place that sad, downscale Key Food is going to look next to this gleaming new development. <sigh> ... So sad, so very, very sad... We come this close, and yet can't seem to overcome the legacy stuff in this neighborhood that is holding it back from coming fully into its own as a first-rate NYC 'hood.
i will miss the bodega. when i was a kid, lots of kids used to come over there and spend all our money on video games and looking at the pr0n magazines.
ReplyDeletethose were the days pre-internet
Why would the CVS fall through? The CVS was permitted for but denied. CVS had every intention of wanting the bottom space.
ReplyDeleteThis Windsor 2 enhances the community with new construction again and ground floor retail space which is still likely going to be for a CVS although the architecture design of the new building won't be the best design.
New construction has gone up in sporadic locations in Rego Park and Forest Hills.
2 projects are in motion now: One where this new tower will be and the other behind the Biu Bello space.
Other than that, nothing else scheduled that I know of. I think the 2 condo buildings in Forest Hills will be the last 2 projects going up for awhile.
... and more and more overcrowding of our local schools
ReplyDeleteI loathe Key Food. Fresh Direct probably loves them because Key Crap sends thousands of desperate Forest Hillers to their website.
ReplyDeleteI basically won't consume any packaged item from a supermarket (mostly chemicals) unless it expressly says it is organic and/or the ingredients are completely natural. While the government might find one specific packaged food safe, they never take into account what happens to the body when you are eating multiple packaged foods all with different chemicals.
DeleteCombine that into your body and you are turning yourself into a chemistry experiment. No thank you.
We get most of our store-bought food from Whole Foods in Manhattan. When is that chain going to open a store near us so we don't have to keep schlepping it in from the other borough?
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14563149-organic-food-no-better-than-conventional-for-kids-pediatricians-say?lite
DeleteThe Windsor I and Windsor II or whatever you call it are both in excellent prime desirable locations.
ReplyDeleteThe Biu Bello property (Condos going up behind it) will be in a very noisy and crowded area, but the location isn't bad.
Rego Park by that Lefrak tower has seen some new condos go up by there too.
Whole Foods would be a spruce to our neighborhood. That's one fine company that thought "outside of the box" by reverting to nature. My family, friends, and I left messages with Whole Foods, urging them to consider Forest Hills for a new shop.
ReplyDeleteYes-you can suggest store locations on their website as well!
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to want a Whole Foods here. It is just food delivered from farms and manufacturers and plants. And Whole Foods isn't cheap either.
ReplyDeleteI would go for a Whole Foods in Forest Hills, in fact I think an excellent location would be for a ground Floor Whole foods where the Walgreens is now on Queens Boulevard. The site should be redeveloped after the Windsor II developed. It can be built upwards and a large amount of ground floor retail can be had there including keeping the Walgreens.
I wonder if Whole Foods knows that the demographic isn't ready for it (or willing to shell out the money). There were two, in my opinion, nice options for Organic and Healthy foods (one being the location next to the Windsor 1 and the other on Austin) and unfortunately, they both failed. I'm surprised though, my wife and I loved shopping at the Organic shop, ordered lots of lunches from there as well. Not sure if the rent is the killer or what..but FH didn't embrace these options as well as it needed to survive. Though it seems that fancier dining (restaurant style) options are settling in, I wonder if/when, fancier supermarket options will be embraced.
ReplyDeleteThis is why they wont come to us
ReplyDelete200,000 people or more in a 20-minute drive time
25,000-50,000 Square Feet
Large number of college-educated residents
Abundant parking available for our exclusive use
Stand alone preferred, would consider complementary
Easy access from roadways, lighted intersection
Excellent visibility, directly off of the street
Must be located in a high traffic area (foot and/or vehicle)
taken from : http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info/real-estate
I think thats reason to believe they "would" come to us. The only thing that I find interesting is, "Abundant parking available for our exclusive use".....Yea, cause you can easily find exclusive parking in Union Square. :p
DeleteParking can be handled with an underground garage.
ReplyDeleteThe Staples location is too small and parking is abysmal. The Walgreens location on Queens Boulevard would make for a perfect whole foods ground level with underground parking.
The Walgreens location meets all requirements for Whole Foods. It is larger location than the Windsor II location.
DeleteIt is prime for redevelopment (upwards). A beautiful building could be placed there.
After Windsor II, and the condo building that looks like the next location ready for redevelopment.
The stores in there are useless sans the Walgreens. Definitely a developer should be looking into redevelopment of this site.