The Shops At Atlas Park A First For New York
Atco Properties & Management brings New York’s first lifestyle center to fruition.
Susan H. Fishman

Designed with a European feel, The Shops at Atlas Park will bring lifestyle retail to Queens.

“It will make this part of the city a more appealing place to live and work,” says Hemmerdinger. “One currently has to travel about 45 minutes into Nassau County to patronize most of these stores.”

Reaching in excess of $200 million, The Shops at Atlas Park will feature 450,000 square feet of retail and office space. In total, the site will feature 55 stores and 1,600 covered parking spaces. The center will offer an exciting mix of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, jewelry, shoes, fashion accessories, housewares, gourmet foods and fine and casual dining. Many of the tenants are entering Queens for the first time, including California Pizza Kitchen, Jos. A. Bank, J. Jill, Borders, Coldwater Creek, White House|Black Market, Shiro’s of Japan, Pasticcio, Marmi, Chili’s, The Amish Market, Chopin Chemists, Crazy for Animals and Gymboree. Other tenants, currently in negotiation, will include Regal Cinemas, Bombay Company, Aerosoles, Chico’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Johnny Rockets, New York Sports Club, Stella Gialla and Claire’s, among others.

An aerial photo of the project’s construction taken in February 2006.

Located at 8000 Cooper Avenue, at the intersection of 80th Street and Cooper Avenue in the Glendale section of Queens, The Shops at Atlas Park is in an area that is remarkably dense and underserved, according to Hemmerdinger.

“There is probably no other market in the country that is as underserved as this one,” he notes. “Providing our tenants with the opportunity to present their merchandise in the way they want to and the way they would require in other parts of the country is really a unique aspect.”

There are 1.5 million people within 3.5 miles of the center, and within the same 3.5-mile circle, there are roughly 45,000 households earning over $100,000 — a denser concentration of affluent families than almost anywhere else in the country.

Rendering of the 20,000-square-foot Market Building at The Shops at Atlas Park, which houses The Amish Market.

In addition to retail, entertainment and dining will be the key components of the development. Regal Cinemas Atlas Park Stadium 8 will feature plush all-stadium seating, large auditoriums with a total of 1,641 seats, a state-of-the-art sound system and a magnificent circular lobby adorned with hand-painted murals. The cinema will be a pivotal architectural and structural element for the center and will be integrated into the second and third levels of a prime retail building that also connects to one of the project’s two covered parking garages.

New York Sports Clubs (NYSC) has leased 27,406 square feet at The Shops at Atlas Park, committing to a long-term lease with three 5-year options. NYSC is slated to open its new one-level gym in fall 2006 in the same building as a Borders bookstore and a Chili’s restaurant.

Another amenity will be the regionally popular Amish Market, which will offer European-style specialty foods for shoppers. The 20,000-square-foot Market Building will also house Dahlia Flowers and a premier purveyor of fine wines. The Market is located in a totally restored turn-of-the-century brick industrial building. The loft-like space will display beautiful fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and imported foods from around the world, including cheeses, breads, chocolates, nuts, candy, spices, coffees and teas.

The Shops at Atlas Park will feature 450,000 square feet of retail and office space. In total, the site will feature 55 stores and 1,600 covered parking spaces.

A social focus for the surrounding communities, The Green is a “town center” park located in the middle of the 12-acre parcel, crisscrossed with paths and featuring park-bench seating and a spectacular interactive fountain. The ambitious design comes from prominent landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg & Partners, one of the best known interdisciplinary landscape architecture, urban design and planning firms in the country. The park will be surrounded by whitewashed buildings designed to create a casual, refreshing meeting place in the midst of a densely inhabited urban environment. The project also encompasses two other strategically located outdoor public spaces — a 1,000 square-foot café pavilion and a mini park next to The Market.

“The project has a European feel,” notes Hemmerdinger. “The architecture is traditional and familiar; it’s not a cartoon of any one location, but it all feels comfortable, like your favorite old sweater. The buildings are meant to be happy and beautiful but neutral containers for the tenants.”

The grand opening of The Shops at Atlas Park was April 28th, with continual openings through September as additional buildings and tenants come online.