BAY RIDGE — THE FORMER CENTURY 21 DEPARTMENT STORE site on 86th Street in Bay Ridge is again up for sale, reported Crain’s New York Business on Thursday, Sept. 19. The Gindis real estate family that had purchased the property with plans to develop its own new retail complex have put the site up for sale, materials from the brokerage JLL show.
The property, currently at 64,500 square feet overall, can be expanded to a project spanning almost 200,00 square feet. Although the Gindis conceived the project to be retail, with supermarkets and fitness centers as potential tenants, JLL is now marketing the site as better suited for a residential development. JLL believes the site could benefit from 485-x, the state’s new affordable housing tax abatement that replaced 421-a, and Mayor Eric Adams’ proposed City of Yes reforms to boost housing production citywide.
According to the Century 21 department store chain’s own website, its original founders were members of the Gindi family: cousins Al and Sonny Gindi, who opened their first store in Lower Manhattan in 1961. Their inspiration was the World’s Fair Century 21 Exposition, whose showcase exhibit was titled the “21-minute tour of the future.”
✰✰✰
