STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- LA Fitness will be the new anchor tenant of the ailing Forest Avenue Shopping Plaza in Port Richmond that is slated for a $10 million facade upgrade.
According to a site plan on the website of the Long Island-based Kimco Realty Corp -- the 191,000-square-foot commercial complex owner -- LA Fitness will soon occupy the 34,000-square-foot store that has been vacant ever since National Wholesale Liquidators closed in 2009. There are four additional vacant storefronts in the shopping plaza.
Neither Kimco Realty nor LA Fitness, which has two existing gyms on Staten Island -- immediately responded to Advance inquires about the store's opening.
FACADE UPGRADES
The project, which is expected to be complete by the end of the year or early 2016, also includes an overhaul of the strip mall, which has space for about 25 tenants.
The footprint of the existing shopping center will remain "as is," and none of the existing retailers will be closing, said Joshua Weinkranz, president, northeast region of Kimco Realty Corp., which owns six Staten Island shopping plazas, including the soon-to-be-developed "Boulevard" in New Dorp.
"The number (of storefronts) will remain more or less the same as we complete the renovation. Some units may be combined for larger tenants while others may be split, depending on the needs of the retailers," Weinkrantz told the Advance in January.
MORE NEW RETAILERS
In addition to the anchor tenant, Kimco is seeking new retailers to lease space in the shopping center.
Kimco is also working on plans to upgrade a commercial complex across the street on Forest Avenue where Staples and Petsmart are located. However, the property is not slated to be improved in 2015, Weinkrantz said.
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