Planned Lowe's Store Would Shut Down Queens Theater: Opponents

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS – A controversial Lowe's store is a step closer to opening in Douglaston despite opposition from locals furious that it will force a neighboring movie theater out of business.

Community Board 11 members narrowly voted on Tuesday to approve the big-box home improvement chain's request to open up in Douglaston Plaza Shopping Center at 242-02 61st Ave. in place of Macy's now-shuttered multilevel storefront as well as MovieWorld's space on the lower level.

Though MovieWorld still has six years left on its lease, the mall's owners, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, negotiated a contract with the theater's management years ago that would allow the lease to be bought out.

"We do not want to leave, but it is in the lease and it is rock solid," said Russell Levinson, general manager of MovieWorld.

"If they choose to exercise that, there is nothing we can do. That being said, we are doing just fine and would like to remain in the plaza."

A handful of MovieWorld supporters showed up at the meeting to oppose the Lowe's takeover, some even wearing shirts with "Save MovieWorld" scrawled on the back. They argued the big-box retailer was unnecessarily ousting a thriving family-owned business from the center.

But AAC representatives argued the mall desperately needs an anchor store to fill Macy's former 157,000-square-foot footprint, or it risks going out of business.

"At the end of the day, I have to keep this open," said A.J. Levine, Chief Operations Officer for AAC. "We've considered every option."

Jon Popin, the landlord's attorney, said Macy's former spot didn't appeal to traditional department stores because it was hard to find, wasn't very accessible and much of it – the subcellar floor – was in the dark. He argued warehouses like Lowe's didn't need to be easily visible because customers already sought them out for building and home improvement supplies.

Popin said that, on top of factors like rising real estate prices and consumer trends toward online shopping, made recruiting brand-name department stores almost impossible. Macy's left the mall last April, citing increased competition with the online market.

"The truth is, we marketed that space for months and because of the reasons we alluded to, no retailers want to go there," Popin said. "There’s no way to put a department store back in here, which would have been everybody’s first choice."

He said while some junior anchor stores were interested in opening locations on the space's main level, Lowe's was the only company interested in taking over the below-grade cellar floor.

Since the space's height isn't quite high enough to fit the home improvement warehouse's usual building model, Lowe's is requesting a a variance to expand 15,000 feet sideways to pack in material that would have otherwise been stacked upward.

Popin noted the chain was committed to being "a good neighbor to the community" and brought a Lowe's spokesman to talk about charity and volunteer work the company's employees did within its neighborhoods.

"We don’t feel we’re creating or upsetting the existing character of the neighborhood," he said. "What we’re trying to do is revitalize the shopping center."

But the move didn't sit well with a handful in the audience, who'd showed up to voice their support for MovieWorld. Jasmine Frankel, who said she's worked at the theatre for 14 years, claims business is booming at MovieWorld and the Douglaston Plaza isn't the "hardship center" owners made it out to be.

Frankel also pointed to a Change.org petition to save the theater that amassed nearly 1,400 signatures.

"That’s thousands of people that don’t want to see this movie theater close," she said. "This is not the location for (Lowe's). I apologize, but it's not."

Her speech was among many heartfelt testaments given to the community board on the theater's behalf, many of which were met with rounds of applause. One Douglaston woman said, as a senior with a limited income, MovieWorld was the only theater she could afford.

"Lowe’s wants to be a good neighbor, but a good neighbor doesn’t put out of business an operation that has been a good neighbor for many, many decades," one man in the audience remarked.

Others suggested Lowe's should reduce its space to accommodate the theater or stack its supply upward, rather than expand out.

Popin said he understood residents' frustration, but maintained the only argument for keeping MovieWorld at the center was fueled by emotions, not numbers.

"For us, it is economics," he said. "The owners are good people, but they're in business and they're trying to keep a shopping center open."

Other residents were concerned that adding a Lowe's to the shopping center would crowd the already traffic-congested area with trucks. While CB 11's zoning committee recommended the board approve the variance for Lowe's, they did so on the condition that the warehouse ask the city's Department of Transportation to install signs limiting the area's truck traffic, said committee co-chair Joe Sollano.

"The committee voted in favor of this application on purely technical grounds," Sollano said. "If you don’t like that you’re going to lose the theater, I’m sorry, but that’s not what we’re here to vote on."

CB 11 board members cast a near split vote for the Lowe's, with 18 voting in favor of the warehouse's new location and 12 voting against it.

The news was a delight to Rosemarie Guidice, president of the Douglaston Townhouse Condominiums Association. The association, representing the only residential homes to share a perimeter with the shopping center, was one of few groups who showed up in support of the Lowe's addition.

"If we don't have an anchor tenant there, what's going to happen to those homes? What's going to happen to our quality of life? Our property values? Answer me that," Guidice said. "Am I sorry the movie theater is going? Yes I am, but this is for the betterment of our community."

Lead photo by Toby Talbot/Associated Press.