In what neighborhood leaders hope is the first sign of a coming development boom, Staples office supply store will join a Linens ‘n’ Things in an underdeveloped area of Coney Island.

The Economic Development Corporation announced on Thursday that a Manhattan-based development group would build a 13,000-square-foot Staples across the street from the newly opened Linens ‘n’ Things in the building formerly occupied by Topps Appliance City, which closed several years ago. The development sits at the intersection of Cropsey Avenue and Hart Place near the Coney Island Creek and the Belt Parkway.

SAM Coney Island LLC, which is comprised mostly of Vista Realty Partners in Manhattan, developed Linens ‘n’ Things late last year and expects to open the Staples next year. Several other major retailers on the currently drab strip are also planned, said Marc Esrig, a managing member of the group.

“The development of this property is great news for Coney Island and the neighboring communities,” said Economic Development Corp. President Andrew Alper in a prepared statement announcing the Staples deal. “This was a dilapidated lot plagued by illegal dumping. On behalf of the city, EDC worked with the developer to clean up the site and make it suitable for economic development.”
Esrig said that the group purchased the 25,900-square-foot city-owned lot for approximately $500,000, a cost that included about $46,845 in environmental cleanup costs. The deal, which includes both public and private property, began taking shape five years ago, but complications resulted from the large amount of pollution that had accumulated on the site over the years.

Esrig said the store, which is slated to open within one year, will be built from the ground up at a cost of approximately $3.4 million. Two derelict buildings were demolished earlier this year, including the former Topps, which closed four years ago. An adjacent lot will be used for parking.

The project is expected to yield 15 construction jobs and 25 jobs in the Staples store itself, said a spokesman for the Economic Development Corp.

As for continued development in the area, Esrig said that within “the first quarter of 2005” residents can expect to see more big-name stores, though which ones he declined to say.

“It would be another big name, hopefully another big name retailer,” said Esrig. “We’re looking to redevelop and we’d probably demolish in a small commercial area. The area has a lot of work that has to be done.”

In October, members of the Coney Island Development Corporation expect to unveil a rough plan for the future of the neighborhood. Many property owners say that once those plans are revealed, much of the area bordered by Neptune Avenue to the north, the beach and boardwalk to the south, Ocean Parkway to the east and West 37th Street to the west will also be redeveloped.

“I think that once those plans come out, you’ll see guns blaring away,” said Horace Bullard, a major property owner whose holdings include land where the old Thunderbolt roller coaster once stood, next to Keyspan Park

“Coney Island is a name known all over the world and you would spend millions of dollars to get that kind of recognition,” Bullard said. There’s definitely a lot of interest.”

©2004 Community Newspaper Group