Currently, Queens Center in Queens, Kings Plaza in Brooklyn and the Staten Island Mall in Staten Island are the only malls in the boroughs, with the Staten Island Mall serving a borough with only roughly 400,000 residents. "Between Brooklyn and Queens you have 4.5 million people served by two malls," explains Gene Spiegelman, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield. "Retail demand for all the boroughs is consistent and growing. There is more demand than supply."

Retailers are trying to meet that demand, according to Spiegelman. Those looking for space in the boroughs run the gamut from fashion retailers and power stores, filled in by accessories and hardware companies—offering a balance. In addition, the space requirements cover the spectrum, ranging from 3,500 sf for a branch location to 150,000 sf for major retailers such as Home Depot, Target and Lowes, he adds.

Spiegelman has seen the demand and the race to fill it first hand, with clients looking for space particularly in Queens. He notes that the drive is not really about the increase interest by retailers in the borough, but about the recognition of the existing retail demand. "The demand has been tremendously understated and the borough has been underserved," he says.

And the Macerich Co. is trying to meet that demand with the recent unveiling of the redeveloped Queens Center. The $250-million redevelopment brought the 620,000-sf mall at the intersection of Queens Boulevard, the Long Island Expressway and Woodhaven Boulevard to nearly one-million sf. Plans also call for the number of stores to jump from 65 to 175 this year. Without giving specifics on the stores coming to the mall, Dawn Simon, marketing manager at Queens Center, says there will be rolling openings throughout the summer and fall culminating in a grand opening of the entire mall in November.

In addition, the reaction to the redevelopment has been "overwhelmingly phenomenal," she says. "The merchants are very pleased by the sales and the results," Simon adds.In addition, Atco Properties & Management is currently developing the Shops at Atlas Park—-a lifestyle retail center in Glendale, Queens. Plans call for the site to include 60 stores and restaurants comprising 275,000 sf of space, 1,200 parking spaces and 110,000 sf of office space. The site will also feature a 12,000-sf day care center. The 10-acre complex is expected to open in the spring of 2005.