On the far eastern end of New York City, right across Jericho Turnpike from the Nassau County village of Floral Park, a three-story commercial and medical office building is planned, at 251-73 Jericho Turnpike.
The building, at the corner of Little Neck Parkway, would contain about 40,000 square feet of leasable floor space, or which 12,000 square feet would be standard commercial space and the remaining 28,000 square feet would be set aside for community facility use – in this case, medical offices.
The first floor will have retail, with medical offices on the second and third floors. The cellar will have 93 parking spaces – far more than required by zoning.
While the area – known as Bellerose or Floral Park, though distinct from the Nassau County village – was traditionally populated by whites, immigration has radically altered the ethnic makeup, giving it a distinctly Indian flavor, and increasing the demand for ethnically-oriented businesses, and especially doctors’ offices. The neighborhood went from half non-Hispanic white in 2000 to barely more than 30 percent in 2010, according to Census figures. Asians – dominated by Indians – are now the plurality.
The zoning normally only allows for very low-density auto-oriented strip malls, however the community facility bonus allows the developer to bump the floor area ratio up above two, for a more urban density. While that’s all well and good for this parcel, we’ve heard grumblings from the Indian community about the suburban-style zoning, which some feel is not appropriate for a community with growing immigrant demand (an opinion YIMBY completely supports).
Bayside-based AB Capstone, which has built retail throughout the outer boroughs, is the developer, while Lower East Side-based Dal H. Chun Engineer is listed as the architect.
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