Underneath the 1,000-plus apartments that John Catsimatidis has in the works for Myrtle Avenue between Ashland and Prince, there’s going to a total of 239,000 square feet of retail space (including second- and basement-level) to be divided between five different tenants. The anchor store, according to Jeff Winick of Winick Realty, is slated to be Duane Reade. While this is not surprising given that the drug chain used to occupy one of the buildings demo’d to make way for the development, it does raise questions about whether Catsimatidis, who made his first fortune in the supermarket biz, will bring Gristedes or another market to the site. After all, Duane Reade is moving more and more into supermarket territory, already offering basics like eggs and milk. Plus, if a decent market comes to the Navy Yard site, that would further argue against a competitor setting up shop on Myrtle. Waddya think?
Catsimatidis on Myrtle Revealed [Brownstoner] GMAP
Myrtle and Flatbush Building Boom, From Above [Brownstoner]
Duane Reade photo by antbeard