The development, located at the intersection of the Long Island Expressway and Junction Boulevard in the Rego Park neighborhood, will have four levels of retail. Vornado has not yet announced any other tenants that will go into the center.

Wal-Mart was http originally slated to go into Rego Park II with its first New York City store, but Alexander's proceeded without the retailer after community opposition to the project. "We do a lot of business with Wal-Mart and were talking to them, among others, about Rego Park," says Steven Roth, the chairman/CEO of Vornado, which is also based in Paramus, in the company's annual report. "We believe in Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart has its critics, and when it became certain that the entire project could be rejected if Wal-Mart were a tenant, we had no choice but to continue without them."

With or without Wal-Mart, Vornado won't have trouble filling up the center with stores, says David Rosenberg, executive vice president at New York City-based Robert K. Futterman & Associates, which is working with Vornado to bring tenants to the development. "That's one of the most densely-populated areas in New York City," he tells GSR. "It's got tremendous demographics."