Queens Place
Celebrates Grand Opening

Queens Place shopping center occupies the former Macy’s/Stern’s store on Queens Boulevard between 55th and 56th Avenues.

Queens Place, a major new shopping center in Elmhurst located at the site of the former Macy’s Sterns Department Store on Queens Boulevard, celebrated its grand opening last Friday. More than half a dozen leading retailers, including the largest Target store in the United States, welcomed shoppers to the 455,000-square-foot development.

Queens elected officials and community leaders joined Bruce C. Ratner, president and chief executive officer of Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer of Queens Place, for the ribbon-cutting and grand opening.

"The stores in Queens Place will offer shoppers from all over Queens outstanding values, fabulous selection and tremendous convenience," Ratner said. "This holiday season, Queens Place will be the place to shop."

The 230,000-square-foot Target store, which offers general retail merchandise at discount prices, will take up two levels of selling area and a third level for offices and storage at Queens Place. Open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., Target anchors the development. Other major tenants include Best Buy (consumer electronics), Macy’s Furniture Gallery, Designer Shoe Warehouse, Daffy’s (discount clothing), Rockaway Bedding, Skechers (casual and athletic shoes) and Sprint (home telecommunications).

Outback Steakhouse, a family dining chain, has opened a restaurant with approximately 225 seats. Starbucks coffee and Mrs. Fields cookies will operate refreshment kiosks. The development offers parking for over 1,400 vehicles.

Work on the six-level, $100 million shopping center, which is located at 88-01 Queens Blvd. between 55th and 56th Avenues, began in May 2000. Redevelopment of the site involved renovating the interior of the existing structure, which was last occupied by the Sterns store in 1999, and adding a new store level and a level for storage and administrative space. Retail tenants began moving in to the center over the summer.

Ratner estimated that Queens Place is creating approximately 500 full- and part-time jobs, many of which are being filled by local residents.

"Forest City has invested heavily in excellent security, lighting and sanitation for this development," Ratner said, "and we are committed to being a good neighbor, now that Queens Place is open for business."

FCRC is one of New York City’s most active commercial developers. Over the last 15 years, it has completed more than 26 projects in all five boroughs comprising seven million square feet and valued at $1.7 billion. Major FCRC projects include:

•Atlantic Center, a 400,000-square-foot retail center in Downtown Brooklyn;

•The New York Mercantile Exchange headquarters near the World Financial Center in Battery Park City;

•Metro Tech Center, a $1 billion, five-million-square-foot high-tech office complex in downtown Brooklyn;

•Major hotel, shopping and entertainment center in the Times Square area; and

•Neighborhood retail developments in Woodside, the Bronx and Staten Island.

FCRC also is the developer of the new headquarters building of the New York Times, which will be built on a site at Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets in Manhattan.