Jamaica, a neighborhood once home to department stores like Macy's, Mays, and Gertz, will have to wait for the arrival of its next major shopping destination. High-profile plans to transform two former parking lots into a $85 million mixed-use complex have been put on ice, according to DNAInfo.
The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, along with Blumenfeld Development Group, first announced plans for a 160,000-square-foot retail center with a 550-spot parking garage at the site in 2013. The project later expanded to include a below market rate residential building, and last we heard, Blumenfeld Development Group had started courting big box retailers that included Costco and Target.
But before the proposal could move through the city's land use procedure, the contract between Blumenfeld and the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation has been terminated. Neither party offered specifics, although it seems like the addition to add affordable housing—increasing the size of the development to 265,000 square feet—changed the nature of the project.
Greater Jamaica plans to issue a new RFP for the project this spring, which means that a shopping mall may still be in Jamaica's future, it's just going to take a lot longer.