The Shops at Atlas Park

The Shops at Atlas Park is an open-air shopping mall at Cooper Avenue and 80th Street in the Glendale neighborhood of Queens, New York City, United States.

The Shops at Atlas Park
Logo
Map
LocationGlendale, Queens, New York City, USA
Coordinates40°42′30″N 73°52′06″W / 40.708464°N 73.868284°W / 40.708464; -73.868284
Address80-00 Cooper Ave
Glendale, NY 11385
Opening dateApril 27, 2006; 17 years ago (April 27, 2006)[1]
DeveloperATCO Properties
ManagementMacerich
OwnerMacerich
No. of floors4
ParkingGarage; short-term parking on the center oval
Website[1]
Park and north shops

The Shops at Atlas Park was opened in April 2006 by ATCO Properties, encompassing the site of the former 25-acre (100,000 m2) Atlas Terminals industrial park, both of which were named after bodybuilder Charles Atlas who resided in nearby Middle Village.[1][2]

History edit

What is now Atlas Park began as 19 acres (7.7 ha) of farmland between Cooper Avenue and Dry Harbor Road (present-day 80th Street[a]). In June 1902, the American Grass Products Company purchased the land and constructed a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) brick factory, and in 1903 a power plant was constructed.[3] In 1922, Henry Hemmerdinger (whose family operates ATCO Properties) purchased a warehouse in the area, which would evolve Atlas Terminals.[4] In its heyday in the 1950s, the industrial park housed companies such as General Electric, Kraft, Westinghouse, and New York Telephone. Freight operations to and from the terminal were facilitated by the Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch at the park's south end.[3][4][5] It was redeveloped in the 2000s after years of struggling to find tenants.[5] Four of the buildings ranging in size from 13,000 to 93,000 square feet[5] were renovated as part of the center, and sixteen buildings in the vicinity of Cooper Avenue and 80th Street were demolished and replaced by a 2.3-acre (9,300 m2) landscaped park.

The shops were opened in late April 2006.[1] Major tenants in the center include Regal Cinemas, TJ Maxx, ULTA, Foot Locker, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili's, Johnny Rockets, White House Black Market, and New York Sports Club.[1][6] Beginning on February 19, 2009, Atlas Park went into foreclosure, with control going to lenders Caylon Bank and Société Générale (both based in France).[7] The complex was sold to The Macerich Company in February 2011 for $54 million.[8]

Transportation edit

The mall is served by the Q29, Q47 and Q54 bus routes.[9][10] The reroutings of the Q54 and what was then the Q45 (now the southern half of the Q47) to serve the mall in 2007 and 2008, respectively, were controversial because MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger was also the president of ATCO Properties.[11][12][13]

The closest New York City Subway station to the shops, the Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue station (served by the M train), is 1.3 miles (2.1 km) away.[4]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Though Dry Harbor Road still exists, the portion south of Furmanville Avenue is now called 80th Street

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Siwolop, Sana (April 19, 2006). "Town Square From a Queens Industrial Park". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  2. ^ Morgan, Richard (October 5, 2008). "A Halfway Point Where People Tend to Stay". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  3. ^ a b The Old Timer (October 16, 2008). "OUR NEIGHBORHOOD THE WAY IT WAS: Without A Glendale Firm's Machine, Ridgewood May Have Been Less Sweet". Times Newsweekly. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Siwolop, Sana (August 30, 2000). "Commercial Real Estate; From Industry to Pastry: A Business Park Evolves". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Siwolop, Sana (October 23, 2002). "COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE: REGIONAL MARKET - Queens; Shops Set Where Industries Were Once at Home". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  6. ^ "Leasing Opportunities". The Shops at Atlas Park. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  7. ^ Mancini, Ralph (January 22, 2009). "French Banks Take Control Of The Shops At Atlas Park: New Mgmt. Company To Be Appointed". Times Newsweekly. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  8. ^ Chinese, Vera (June 12, 2012). "Daytime robbery at Atlas Park mall raises questions about Macerich's plans". NY Daily News. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: neighborhood". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  10. ^ "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  11. ^ Hirshon, Nicholas (January 10, 2008). "Bus reroute benefits Queens mall owned by MTA chairman's family". Daily News (New York). Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  12. ^ Hirshon, Nicholas (May 30, 2007). "Bus switch angers locals: Q54 route benefits Atlas Park's shops". Daily News (New York). Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  13. ^ Pozarycki, Robert (May 31, 2007). "Times Newsweekly: Metropolitan Ave. Q54 Line Changes Course This July". TimesNewsweekly.com. Times Newsweekly. Retrieved September 29, 2015.

External links edit