Wednesday, January 28, 2015

New Daycare Facility Coming To Roosevelt Island's Main Street - Update From Hudson Related On Roosevelt Island Main Street Retail Leasing And Wayfinding Signage At January 29 RIOC Real Estate Advisory Committee Meeting

 Image Of Trellis Diner

Roosevelt Island residents are getting increasingly concerned with the lack of any recent progress in securing Main street retail tenants and with what appears to be the Trellis Diner renovation work stopping.

MJMNYC asks:
I haven't seen any activity recently at Trellis. Any idea on the progress of the remodeling?
Westviewer replies:
There are no permits posted on the DOB's website for Trellis. (There are DOB permits on the plywood panels, so something must have been filed.) Has anyone called the DOB?
and Ratso wants to know:
Does anyone know the disposition of the Urgent Care Unit that was scheduled for the former location of the Thrift Shop?
Here's some Roosevelt Island Main Street retail news. A lease has been signed for a daycare facility at 568 Main Street.

Hopefully, we will get more information about the new daycare facility, Trellis and other retail news from Main Street Retail Master Leaseholder Hudson Related during the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Real Estate Advisory Committee meeting tomorrow.

According to RIOC:
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Real Estate Development Advisory Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.

Agenda:

Update from Hudson Related on Retail Master Lease Progress

Discussion of Island Wayfinding Signage

Any Other Committee Business That May be Brought Before the Committee
Hudson Related's last retail update was during July 30 RIOC Real Estate Advisory Committee meeting.

23 comments :

Ratso123 said...

I just heard that Cards and Gifts is closing in a few days.

Janet Falk said...

When is Hudson Related going to post signs at the Tram and Subway station directing visitors to shop, dine and stroll along Main Street? The merchants want the signs, but there seems to be a communication gap between HR and RIOC.

Is Hudson Related thinking about using the screens on the Tram to direct visitors to shop on Main Street? Surely that would be more relevant than what is currently on display:

Roosevelt Island Day June 21, 2014

Summer Movie Series June 28, 2014

Ed Hartzog for State Assembly Primary Election Sept. 9, 2014

Frank Farance said...

Ratso123: they are closing end of February, H-R raised the rents from $4000 to $8000. Yeah, like small merchants have an extra $50K in profit to give up.

Ratso123 said...

Thanks for the information. We're going to be living in a ghost town.

RooseveltIslander said...

The Card and Gift shop is currently negotiating with Hudson Related for a smaller space than their current location said H-R rep Arianna Sachs at RIOC Real Estate Committee meeting earlier this evening.

The Card Shop's lease has expired and H-R says they would like to reach an agreement for a more appropriate sized space for the type of items they sell.

Will have video of the whole meeting posted soon.

CheshireKitty said...

I hope H-R doesn't offer the Card shop the Main St storage space - no light, no windows, no air - that they had the nerve to offer to the Thrift shop.


With the closure of the Card shop (I'm figuring the Card shop is not going to stand for H-R's wildly inflated rents and will look for a more affordable space off-island) yet another RI business that catered to the moderate income people, will vanish. No doubt M&D will be next on the chopping block, in Kramer's inexorable drive to achieve the total gentrification "class-based cleansing" of RI.

CheshireKitty said...

I was just there earlier tonight: "50% off" signs are up all over the place. Anybody who wants to snap up bargains should rush over there.


Question: Anybody know who else sells Lotto tickets? Does the Duane Reade sell lottery tickets?

RooseveltIslander said...

The Card Store was offered space at 615 Main Street (former boy scout storage space) and the space formerly occupied by the chiropractor at 507 Main Street.

CheshireKitty said...

LOL - so I guessed right. No point venting/cussing out H-R, people can supply their own imaginative epithets to a master lease holder who will actually presume to offer space that is obviously storage space - not store front space - and charge for it! I think H-R offering the Card shop a hole in the wall storage space with no light, air, and so forth - speaks for itself.


The chiropractor space is better - but I wonder what H-R is asking for; probably some ridiculous amount way out of line with the volume and type of business the Card shop does (selling candy and chewing gum isn't exactly a high-profit margin business).


Notice how every time another business that catered to the poor folks of RI is kicked off Main St, the RIOC resident Board members maintain a strict silence. Ditto RIRA. The resident RIOC Board members devised the system of the Master Lease - the brainchild of Kalkin - so as to enable Kramer to remove the "affordable" businesses under the guise of "improving" Main St,, without the resident Board members sullying their hands with the messy business of the removals. The resident RIOC Board members leave the messy details of the destruction of our vibrant mixed-income community, to Kramer - the "hatchet man" of Main St.

YetAnotherRIer said...

Roosevelt Island has always been a ghost town. I don't think the loss of the cards & gift store or the deli will make it worse than it already is.

YetAnotherRIer said...

Since when has the gift & card store been an affordable place? They are quite expensive for what they are selling and the state the store is in.

CheshireKitty said...

You know what I'm referring to - the cheap goods. The card shop was the source for cheap cookies, housewares, stationery goods, candy, That's what made it affordable - the goods were cheap. Where else could you buy cookies so cheap?

CheshireKitty said...

I avoid the overpriced goods anywhere. However, the cookies there were good, and cheap. They used to get miniature puff pastry cookies from Italy, and many different cheap imported cookies, some from the Mid-East, Turkey, Spain, you name it. They were great. Listen: I'm a stickler with avoiding anything with trans fats and so forth - I always read labels, and these cookies were not only cheap, they were healthy. The card shop was my source for cookies, as well as candy. So I always thought of the card shop as a cheap store, but then again, I'd only buy the cheap things there. If only we had a Jacks on RI.. ...

YetAnotherRIer said...

I don't know. I tried that store a few times and would not wish on anybody to buy cookies there. The few things that are not so creepy there are overpriced (balloons, for example).

Westviewer said...

The card store is depressing. The deli is even more expensive and stocked with more outdated goods than Gristede's. I'll be very surprised if we ever see Trellis again. The wine store has some nice wine, only a little overpriced, but the lighting is uninviting, like an operating room. The new deli, likewise, no surprise, since it's the same ownership. (They also falsely advertise Spanish chorizo that is clearly made in the U.S. Why, oh why can't they or (Gristede's) stock Palacios -- a widely available Spanish chorizo? I'll tell you. They don't know anything about food. China 1 is inconsistent and only sometimes rises to the level of the typical takeout Chinese place. The Japanese restaurant is pleasant, but the menu is boring. The pizza at Nonno's vies for worst slice in the city. Yay, Roosevelt Island!

CarnetBleu said...

The former boy scout storage space was also offered to the thrift store

CarnetBleu said...

The chiropractor's place can't cost much less than the 8000$ they are being asked to pay in the new lease at the card shop. They are similar in size. Btw, you can buy lotto at Gristides...

Westviewer said...

"Vibrant" community? Are you referring to this dismal, failed housing development?

OldRossie said...

Wow! Winter weather blues?

CheshireKitty said...

If it's not "jumping" enough it is because Trellis is closed. I don't think RI is a failed housing development. I do think Kramer should come down on the rents though so more businesses might decide to locate on Main St. The empty store-fronts are somewhat sad. The sort of stores we need aren't likely to generate the kind of profits needed to pay the high rents Kramer is demanding. The good thing about having RIOC instead of Kramer in charge was that RIOC was not "your typical greedy landlord" - it was more sensitive to keeping businesses on Main St even if they weren't paying the rent on time. RIOC wasn't in it for the money necessarily - a store behind on their rent wasn't going to jeopardize RIOC's budget. RIOC could afford to be more "lenient" and gracious even - extending free rent to certain non-profits like the thrift shop, since they realized (or at least once did realize) that having a thrift shop was important for the low-income folks on the island (of which there are quite a few). RIOC didn't throw out the boy scouts. It's Kramer who is moving to get rid of the old-line admittedly rather chaotic but lovable stores such as the thrift shop, the hardware store, and now the card shop. Soon there will be no cheap stores left - other than M&D.

CheshireKitty said...

Which was really absurd. The thrift shop is supposed to be taking the second floor @ 504 when it's built out - although that space would have been nice for community space.

CheshireKitty said...

So they can't afford the chiropractor space, or refuse to pay that much for either space, which means RI loses another business.


Well, that's good to know that Gristides sells lotto tickets (not that I buy them myself but many do).

CheshireKitty said...

Sad but true. Kai is dedicated to the community but I wonder if he is going to want to redo the plans and go through another extended design process. If it doesn't re-open can you imagine how long it'll take to find a new restaurant for that space?