Gateway Center (Brooklyn)

Not to be confused with the Bronx Terminal Market, formerly called the Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market, also owned by The Related Companies.
Gateway Center
Coordinates 40°39′07″N 73°52′14″W / 40.651943°N 73.870592°W / 40.651943; -73.870592Coordinates: 40°39′07″N 73°52′14″W / 40.651943°N 73.870592°W / 40.651943; -73.870592
Address 501 Gateway Drive, Brooklyn, New York, 11239
Opening date October 1, 2002 (2002-10-01)[1]
August 1, 2014 (2014-08-01) (Gateway Center North)[2]
Developer Gateway Center Properties (The Related Companies, Blackacre Capital Management)[3]
Owner The Related Companies
No. of stores and services 51[4]
Public transit access New York City Bus: B13, B83, B84
MTA Bus Company: Q8
Website shopgatewaycenterbrooklyn.com
www.related.com/our-company/properties/81/Gateway-Center

Gateway Center, also referred to as Gateway Plaza Mall[5] or simply Gateway Mall, is a shopping complex in the Spring Creek section of East New York, Brooklyn, in New York City. It is located just north of the Belt Parkway at Erskine Street and Gateway Drive, which is near portions of the Gateway National Recreation Area. Built as part of the Gateway Estates plan for commercial and retail development,[6] it consists of two structures: the original structure opened in 2002 (now called Gateway Center South), and a second adjacent development opened in 2014 (called Gateway Center North or Gateway Center II).[7][8]

Location

The southern parking lot of Gateway Center.

The Gateway Center complex, constructed under the Gateway Estates development plan for Spring Creek,[6] is bounded by Erskine Street to the east, and a road now called Gateway Drive to the south and west, which follows the right of way of Seaview Avenue traveling east-to-west. An access road and parking lot form its northern boundary. It is located just north of the Belt Parkway and can be accessed by the parkway's Exit 15, which leads to Erskine Street.[1][6][9][10]

The original mall (Gateway Center South) which opened in 2002,[7][8] consists of a 640,000-square-foot (59,000 m2) complex, with a large parking lot and three separate structures to the south along Gateway Drive. It is anchored by several major stores, including Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy, and BJ's Wholesale Club.[1][3][9][10][11] The newer northern complex (Gateway Center North), which opened in 2014,[7][8] is similarly sized at 605,000 square feet (56,200 m2), with a second parking lot, four small adjacent buildings for small outlets, a fifth structure for an Applebee's, and a sixth for a bank. Tenants of this section, which opened in stages in late 2014, include JCPenney, T.J.Maxx, ShopRite, and Aldi.[2][10][12][13][14][15] Both main structures are characterized by brick facades with green trim.[3]

The mall is located north of the former Fountain Avenue Landfill, and was constructed on part of 230 acres of former landfill, which characterized Spring Creek for much of the 20th century.[6][9][11] Located across Erskine Street to the east is the Brooklyn Developmental Center.[6][10] Just north of the complex are Nehemiah Spring Creek and Gateway Elton, two affordable housing developments which were planned and constructed along with the mall as part of the Gateway Estates project.[5][6][11][16][17] West of the mall across Hendrix Creek is Starrett City (now known as Spring Creek Towers), accessible via the Belt Parkway to the south, or Flatlands Avenue to the north.[3] Spring Creek Educational Campus, which houses two New York City high schools, is also located north at Flatlands Avenue and Elton Street.[18]

Transportation

The bus terminal at Gateway Center North.

The mall is served directly by the B13, B83, B84 and Q8 buses. Formerly terminating at Erskine Street near the Brooklyn Developmental Center, the B13, B83, and Q8 were extended to a new bus terminal area at the west end of Gateway Center North in August 2014. The B84, meanwhile, was created in June 2013 to serve the Spring Creek neighborhood.[7][8][19][20]

The closest New York City Subway stations to the mall are New Lots Avenue in East New York, served by the 2 3 4 5 trains (connected by the B84 bus),[20] and Rockaway Parkway in Canarsie, served by the L train.[6][16]

History

The area that is now Gateway Mall, along with most of the Spring Creek neighborhood, originally consisted of marshland and creeks. The Milford Street Landfill existed on the site from the 1930s to 1950. Afterwards, the land remained vacant and was frequently used as illegal dumping grounds.[6][11][21][22][23] The area became the Fresh Creek Urban Renewal Area in 1967.[6][16] In 1989, the tract was acquired by Starrett Housing Corporation—the managers of Starrett City, which opened in 1974—for mixed-income housing construction. Although this plan was to be the predecessor to the current housing program in the area, the land was never developed.[11][22][24][25]

On June 25, 1996, the New York City Council amended the original Fresh Creek Urban Renewal Plan to facilitate the development of the Gateway Estates plan, which included what would become the Gateway Center.[6][16][26] Ground broke on the Gateway Center project on November 16, 2000.[11][27] It was the first phase of the major redevelopment and restoration of the Spring Creek area (including the Gateway Houses, the Spring Creek Campus, and Spring Creek Park) that was originally proposed in the late 1980s, and part of an initiative to reduce crime and blight and create jobs in East New York.[1][6][9][11][27] The 640,000 square-foot structure was planned as a suburban-style strip mall. characterized by brick facades and Georgian design features. It was developed by The Related Companies, which is also a development partner in two large Manhattan properties: the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, and the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.[3][9][11] During the building of the mall, a new exit interchange for the Belt Parkway was constructed at the south end of Erskine Street at a cost of $25 million.[1][3] It opened on October 1, 2002,[1] at the cost of $192 million,[3][9][11] and created 1,700 new jobs.[1][9] Following the mall's opening, several bus routes were extended to serve the area: the B13 in April 2003,[19] the B83 in September 2007,[19] and the Q8 in June 2008.[28]

In early 2007, Related Companies proposed the second phase of the Gateway Center, a similarly sized complex to the first phase, which would include an additional parking lot and bus terminal area. In March 2009, the New York City Council rezoned 21 acres land to be allocated for the project.[6][12][13][16][26][29] In 2010, it was reported that Walmart would be seeking to establish its first New York City location at Gateway, after years of local opposition.[29] In spite of some polls that showed positive approval ratings for a Walmart location among residents of Brooklyn and the entire city,[30][31] the plan was canceled due to opposition from local residents, and the developers signed ShopRite as an anchor instead.[14] Construction on the expansion began in early 2014,[32] opening in stages beginning on August 1 of that year.[2] A third expansion is planned in the future.[33]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Friedman, Neil S. (October 3, 2002). "Mayor Leads Ceremony Officially Opening Gateway Mall". Canarsie Courier. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Croghan, Lore (August 1, 2014). "Ka-Ching! Super-discount supermarket Aldi arrives in East New York". Brooklyn Eagle. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Siwolop, Sana (May 16, 2001). "Commercial Real Estate; A Mall Planned for East New York Is 88% Leased". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Prospectus Details $300M Loan on Gateway Center Phase II". jayrickey.com. October 17, 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 Sheftell, Jason (July 27, 2012). "Spring Creek Nehemiah is an affordable housing success story: in East New York: The development off Flatlands Ave. is home to 233 first-time homeowners who won the right to live there via lottery.". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 AKRF, Inc., Eng-Wong Taub & Associates, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc. (February 4, 2009). "FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT for GATEWAY ESTATES II". nyc.gov. New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Upcoming 2014 Bus Service Improvements Include New Routes, Extensions: $4.9 Million in Enhancements Planned for Routes in All Five New York City Boroughs". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 26, 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Musumeci, Natalie (August 26, 2014). "MTA Launching New Bus Routes, Extensions as Part of $4.9M Upgrade". New York City: DNAinfo.com. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Christian, Nicole M. (January 6, 2003). "East New York Journal; You Think Traffic Is Jammed on the Belt Parkway? Take a Look at Aisle 9". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Gateway Center Phase II Brookyln, NY" (PDF). Ripco Real Estate Corp. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Christian, Nichole M. (November 15, 2000). "East New York Senses Promise In a New Mall". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Related gets 55 percent discount on Gateway II land; pol suspicious". The Real Deal (magazine). July 14, 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  13. 1 2 Massey, Daniel (July 14, 2011). "Sweetheart deal alleged for possible Walmart site: Anti-Walmart pol asks state to investigate why a developer is getting a discount on land it might lease to Walmart. But the builder says critic doesn't have her facts straight.". Crains New York. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  14. 1 2 Fusfeld, Adam (September 14, 2012). "Shop-Rite takes Walmart's rumored location". The Real Deal (magazine). Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Samtani, Hiten (February 28, 2013). "JCPenney takes space at Related's Gateway II". The Real Deal (magazine). Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "IN THE MATTER OF an application submitted by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) pursuant to Section 505 of Article 15 of the General Municipal (Urban Renewal) Law of New York State and Section 197-c of the New York City Charter for the third amendment to the Fresh Creek Urban Renewal Plan for the Fresh Creek Urban Renewal Area, Community District 5, Borough of Brooklyn." (PDF). New York City Planning Commission. February 17, 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "HPD, HDC, THE HUDSON COMPANIES, RELATED COMPANIES & CAMBA HOUSING VENTURES CELEBRATE THE RIBBON CUTTING AND GROUNDBREAKING OF NEW AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS AT THE GATEWAY ELTON DEVELOPMENT IN SPRING CREEK, BROOKLYN". Government of New York City. New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. January 15, 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "2016 New York City High School Directory" (PDF). schools.nyc.gov. New York City Department of Education. 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 "B83 Bus Extended to Gateway Center Mall Extension to Provide Direct Service". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 24, 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  20. 1 2 "THE B84: NEW BUS ROUTE IN EAST NEW YORK". eastbrooklyn.com. January 29, 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Savitch-Lew, Abigail (August 9, 2013). "Spring Creek Builder's Promises Spur Cheers, Jeers". City Limits (New York magazine). Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  22. 1 2 Mooney, Jake (March 3, 2011). "Living On The Edge: East New York & Bay Ridge Go Off Script". City Limits (New York magazine). Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Celona, Larry (November 20, 2000). "GRISLY GRAVES UNEARTHED – B'KLYN MALL DIG FINDS 2 BODIES". New York Post. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  24. ↑ Oser, Alan S. (November 5, 1989). "PERSPECTIVES: The Starrett Proposal; Giving Housing a Push in Spring Creek". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  25. ↑ Oser, Alan S. (September 25, 1994). "PERPSECTIVES; Revising the Script for a Starrett Plan in Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  26. 1 2 "Brooklyn Borough President Recommendation APPLICATION #: 080089 MMK – 090078 HUK – 090079 ZMK – 090081 ZSK - 090082 HAK Gateway Estates II" (PDF). New York City Planning Commission. December 18, 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  27. 1 2 "NEW RETAIL CENTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN BROOKLYN: Gateway Center, the Borough's Largest Suburban-Style Retail Center, to Create Thousands of Jobs". nyc.gov. Brooklyn, New York: New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. November 16, 2000. Archived from the original on 2011-05-06. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  28. ↑ "2008 Annual Report Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Year Ended December 31, 2008" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 31, 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  29. 1 2 Hernandez, Marianna (May 6, 2010). "CB 5 Supports Opposition To Walmart At Gateway II". Canarsie Courier. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  30. ↑ Courier Life (December 14, 2010). "Survey says: Walmart's a good fit for Brooklyn". New York Post. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  31. ↑ "Poll finds majority of New York residents in favor of Walmart". The Real Deal (magazine). August 12, 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  32. ↑ "ROBUST RETAIL – GATEWAY CENTER PHASE II". eastbrooklyn.com. February 6, 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  33. ↑ "Map: Subway and Development, More Than Crime, Affect Home Prices in Brooklyn". brownstoner.com. Blank Slate Factory, Inc. October 7, 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
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