Kings Plaza Shopping Center is a shopping center within the Marine Park/Mill Basin section of Brooklyn, New York City, near the Flatlands and Bergen Beach neighborhoods. Opened in September 1970, it is located at the southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, just north of Floyd Bennett Field. The mall is anchored by Macy's, Best Buy, H&M, and Old Navy, and formerly by Sears.
The mall was originally owned by a joint venture between R.H. Macy's and Alexander's, and is currently owned and managed by Macerich. With approximately 4,200 jobs in retail services and over 120 individual stores, Kings Plaza is the largest indoor shopping center within the borough of Brooklyn.
Video Kings Plaza
Description
Kings Plaza is located along the south side of Avenue U, between Flatbush Avenue to the west and East 58th Street to the east. The mall occupies 23 acres of land. The primary block of the mall lies between Flatbush Avenue and East 55th Street. It contains two levels of mall stores, along with the Macy's and former Sears/Alexander's anchor locations which are both four floors high. Both anchor stores contain around 330,000 square feet of space. At the south end of the block is a multi-level parking garage, accessible from northbound Flatbush Avenue and East 55th Street. The garage was built using specialized prestressed concrete columns, and holds nearly 4,000 cars. The eastern block is solely occupied by a Lowe's location and its adjoining parking lot. The block was entirely used for parking prior to the construction of the Lowe's. At the easternmost end of the site extending to East 58th Street is Mill Basin Plaza, a separate complex owned by Kimco Realty. It features Home Depot, Walgreens, and Petland Discounts stores.
Unlike traditional malls in the United States, shoppers visiting Kings Plaza (as well as most other malls within New York City) have to pay for parking their cars on mall premises in the parking garage. The parking fee is currently $3 per vehicle.
To the east and south of the mall is the Mill Basin Inlet, which separates the mall from the neighborhood of the same name. A marina called the Kings Plaza Marina is located along the perimeter of the parking garage. The original purpose of the marina was to allow shoppers to travel to the mall by boat.
Kings Plaza has its own cogeneration plant on the roof of the mall, dubbed the Kings Plaza Total Energy Plant. The plant currently uses four Deutz AG natural gas engines to produce the mall's entire electricity needs with no connection to the Con Edison grid, while the heat from the engine exhaust is used to heat and cool the building. The plant, which was built with the mall, originally used five Nordberg-built diesel engines.
Transportation
The mall acts as a terminal for the bus routes in the area. The B2, B9, B41, B46 and B46 SBS utilize a dedicated bus terminal on the Flatbush Avenue side of the mall, the B3 and Q35 serve the mall at intermediate stops, and the B47 terminates at the Avenue U entrance to the mall. The terminal was renovated in 2005. Since April 2017 due to construction, B2 and B9 buses terminate at the northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, using the existing Q35 stop.
The closest New York City Subway stations are the Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College station on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line in Midwood, and the Avenue U and Kings Highway stations on the BMT Brighton Line in Sheepshead Bay and Midwood respectively.
Maps Kings Plaza
History
Construction
Prior to the construction of Kings Plaza, the site was occupied by a Standard Oil petroleum storage facility, built in the 1930s. The site was later occupied by a plastics producer and an auto garage. In 1965, the Alexander's department store chain announced it would build a new store at Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, in order to expand to Southeast Brooklyn in response to residential development in Flatlands and Canarsie. Alexander's was competing with E. J. Korvette to build a store in the area. By 1966, the mall was planned as a joint venture between Macy's and Alexander's.
Ground was broken on the Kings Plaza Shopping Center and Marina on July 8, 1968. The ceremonies were officiated by Alexander's president Alexander S. Farkas and Macy's president David L. Yunich, with Mayor John Lindsay and Brooklyn Borough President Abe Stark in attendance. Financing for the project was provided by John Hancock Financial. As part of the mall's construction, Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U were both rehabilitated, which included expanding Flatbush south of Utica Avenue to its current width. The bus terminal on Flatbush Avenue was also built along with the mall.
Opening and early history
The mall opened on September 11, 1970, with 79 stores. Among these stores was the world's first Sbarro pizza outlet. The mall was the first in the city to be fully enclosed and air conditioned. In protest of the new mall, local residents barricaded nearby side streets to prevent traffic congestion from spilling over to residential blocks. By 1971, the mall expanded to 125 outlets.
In 1985, Macy's sold 50% ownership of the mall to Alexander's. In 1988, the remaining 50% share was sold to Alexander's. In 1992, Alexander's filed for bankruptcy and closed all its stores including the Kings Plaza location. The space remained vacant until 1997, when Sears took over the site.
Improvements
In May 1999, the mall began a $50 million renovation program, which included a new glass entrance at Flatbush Avenue, and upgrades to the mall interior. Around 2002, the mall's owners planned to construct an addition to the mall, on the parking lot on the east side of 55th Street. As originally planned, it would have added 100,000 square feet to the mall, with a home improvement store, a multiplex theater replacing the original mall theater, and indoor parking space. A new complex on the site had been planned going back to 1997. In mid-2003, the parking lot was closed in preparation for the addition. In 2005, Lowe's signed on to occupy the home improvement store. The expansion faced community backlash due to fears of increased traffic in the area. The developers, Vornado Realty Trust (the successors to Alexander's), and the New York City Department of City Planning were also accused of conspiring to keep the local community in the dark about the progress of the addition. The community opposition led the developers to downsize the expansion to the single Lowe's store. Construction began in 2009, and the Lowe's was opened on July 23, 2010.
In January 2010, the AMC Loew's movie theater at the mall, built along with the mall, closed its doors. Further renovations turned the former theater into a new Best Buy location.
It was announced in May 2012 that Alexander's/Vornado planned to sell the mall with the rest of the Vornado enclosed mall portfolio, and in October 2012, Macerich announced it was buying the mall in a deal that closed at the end of 2012.
In summer 2014, the center started a significant renovation project that includes: reconstruction of its parking garage, renovation of the exterior façade and signage, as well as a renovation of the interior common areas and décor. The property also houses retailers such as Michael Kors, Fossil, Justice and Brothers, and Chipotle.
In June 2016, it was announced that Sears would close down at Kings Plaza and be replaced by two European retailers: Primark and Zara.
2013 attack
On December 26, 2013, several hundred teenagers assaulted visitors and vandalized the mall, forcing it to close down. The incident began at about 5 p.m. and continued until the mall shuttered at 7 p.m. A temporary "no teens" rule was issued, banning all underaged people without an accompanying adult. One teenage girl was arrested, but not charged. No people were killed or seriously injured during the attack. It was reported that the incident was a violent flashmob organized via social networking services and intended to become the "world's largest 'Knockout game'".
Anchors
Current
- Macy's (Opened in 1970)
Former
- Alexander's (Opened in 1970, closed in 1991, reopened as Sears in 1997)
- Sears (Opened in 1997, closed 2016)
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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